Danganronpa: Retribution and Redemption
by PoisonBanana
Summary: (SYOC CLOSED)16 Ultimates find themselves trapped inside a mysterious building known only as the Ultimate Correctional Facility. For them however, that isn't the strange part. Imprisonment is well known to them. The strange part? A chance to get out for the low price of sacrificing everyone else. A dream come true, isn't it? (Inmates Alive: 14)
1. SYOC Form

Sometimes life is absolutely wonderful.

Maybe that game you were anticipating came out. Maybe you finally found the courage to talk to that certain someone. Maybe you just got approved for that raise you've desperately been wanting.

But.

Sometimes life is anything but wonderful.

People lie. They cheat. They inevitably betray you. They do what they can to get ahead. Anyone left behind? Not their problem. At the end of the day the only one you can rely on is yourself.

And that makes some people do very stupid things indeed.

These people never fully understand the consequences of their actions until it is too late. They leave behind their loved ones and sunder the lives of those they harm. They throw away everything they've worked so hard to attain and for what? Some petty reason or another.

It's only proper such people get punished, right?

And who better a judge of right and wrong than me?

* * *

 **AN: This is one of the last things I had ever expected to be doing right now. I had gone over a full year without so much as hearing a peep about Danganronpa, I thought I was done with the franchise. Then V3 came and went and I decided to revisit FFN. I found myself a second wind, so to speak, from a certain other story and here we are now. But I'm getting carried away.**

 **The following form will also be posted on my page for the sake of convenience. Before you go about filling this thing out, there is one critical bit of info you need to know. All of the participants in this game are criminals. They have been tried and found guilty and are serving time. Please keep this in mind when creating an OC.**

 **Rules:**

 **[1]: I will only take submissions through PM. Any left in the reviews will be ignored.**

 **[2]: Title your PM as "SYOC Form: Character Name" Fill it in appropriately.**

 **[3]: Please delete everything in parenthesis from the form. Please.**

 **[4]: This is NOT first come first serve. I will take several days before deciding.**

 **General**

Name: (First, Last. Indicate if any nicknames are preferred.)

Gender: (Pretty simple)

Talent: (Open to anything really, creativity is appreciated though.)

 **Appearance**

Height: (American or metric is fine.)

Weight: (Same as height.)

Looks: (Tell me about them. Things like hair, eyes, build, skin tone, etc.)

Clothes: (Anything that they wear goes here.)

 **Background**

Biography: (Tell me everything important that happened to them. This should be anywhere from one to three paragraphs.)

Crime: (What were they charged with and what were the details surrounding it? This can be as mild or extreme as you want.)

 **Personality**

Personality: (Details are very appreciated here. I am requiring one to three paragraphs here as well. Tell me all about how they behave.)

Speech: (How do they talk?)

Quirks: (Do they tap their foot? Pace in circles? If they have a habit, put it here.)

Likes: (At least three.)

Dislikes: (At least three.)

Fears: (Is there any phobia that really breaks them down? This can be as comical or as serious as you want, or there could be none at all.)

People They Like: (What types of people would they associate with?)

People They Dislike: (Who would they absolutely not get along with?)

Quotes: (Give me at the very least five sample lines that they might say.)

 **Killing Game**

Role: (Do you think they will be a victim or a killer? No promises either way, but I want to hear what you think.)

Motive: (Give me at least a couple of reasons that might make them kill a fellow inmate.)

Development: (How will your character change throughout the story, if at all.)

Free Time: (Just give out a few ideas about what their FTEs could be.)

Investigation: (What can they contribute to the investigation and how will they behave during one?)

Trial: (How will they act during the trial and how they can help during it.)

Execution: (If you can't think of one that's fine, but I would prefer it.)

Other: (Is there anything else that I need to know about your character that isn't covered by any of the above fields?)

 **Some of you might have noticed that a few fields typically included in forms seem to be missing from this one. All I'll say is everything I need is in the form.**

 **I will be updating my profile with the list of accepted OCs when I get to deciding. If you ever want to see the list, that is the place to check.**

 **If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about anything with the story or form please leave it in a review or send me a PM. I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.**


	2. Prologue I

Life is simply unfair. It's a common enough phrase, one that many people have said to themselves many times. The man slowly awakening on the bed has never thought along those lines however. He is a man who takes life as it comes, whether it be fair or not, good or bad. That being said, he was at this moment also a surprised man, the sleep clearing from his eyes to take in his unexpected environment. " _This isn't my usual residence…"_ He thought to himself, slowly getting up and taking a quick glance around the room he was in.

The room was quite basic by most standards. The walls were a plain gray and the shag carpet was of a matching color. The bed he woke up on had black sheets that were now a little messy and a single plain white pillow that was still a little flat. A few feet to the right of the bed was a small wooden divider that was about waist high with a couple of shelves on it. Peeking over it the man could see a sparkling clean toilet, thankfully on white tile and not carpet like the rest of the room. Further down on the right wall was a metal looking door that had a lightswitch near it, probably for the two dim lights on the corners of the ceiling. Straight across from the door was a wooden wardrobe that was closed. " _Not much here in the way of comfort."_ The man gave a sigh and put his hands into his pockets. " _Still beats my previous lodgings by a country mile though."_

While the man continued to look around and wonder about the strange situation he had found himself in, he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out and examined it. That something appeared to be a black tablet device with what looked like a bear head decal on the back with the word 'MonoPad' written near the top. Curious as to what could be on the foreign device, the man pushed the on button near the bottom. After a couple of seconds a simple message popped up on the screen in a bright flash.

* * *

 **Gen Imamura**

 **Ultimate Racer**

* * *

" _Guess whoever kidnapped me decided they wanted to give me a present."_ Gen let out another sigh and examined the MonoPad a little closer. There were only a handful of what he assumed were apps on the device, however they were all blacked out except for one labeled 'Profiles'. Gen gave that one a tap and sixteen other icons filled up the screen, all but one blacked out like before. There was a profile of himself now on his screen, giving details like his name, talent, height, and weight. There was even a picture of him filling the right half of his screen.

Gen is decently tall, standing at about six feet. He has a slight bit of muscle to him, but lean would be the most apt way to describe him. His complexion is just a skosh lighter than most people, but still well within the average skin tone. Gen's hair is long and flowing, going all the way down his back, and is a pale shade of pink. There is one bit at the top of his head that stubbornly refuses to stay down however. His eyes are a dull yellow, giving him a somewhat calm vibe. His face is more effeminate than most men, with his beautiful eyelashes and lack of a well defined jaw bone causing more than one unfortunate misconception at a glance.

While Gen himself may have a more muted color palette, his outfit was anything but. The picture of Gen on the MonoPad showed him in his usual racing attire minus the helmet. He was wearing an obnoxiously bright red jacket and an equally offensive pair of blue pants. A black and white checkered flag was also draped around his back like a cape. He also had black shoes and matching gloves. " _I forgot how gaudy my old outfit used to be."_

Gen gave yet another sigh before putting away the MonoPad and looking down at what he was currently wearing. Much to his surprise he was wearing the exact same uniform that he used to wear. " _How on Earth did I not notice this sooner?"_ Chalking it up to him still being tired he walked over to the wardrobe in hopes of finding something less humiliating to wear. He was sorely disappointed, inside the wardrobe were many more sets of the same outfit he was currently wearing and nothing else. " _Of all the rotten luck..."_

Mildly annoyed at his fruitless endeavor he closed the wardrobe and made for the door. Interestingly enough it was unlocked, the handle turning without any difficulty. " _Who kidnaps someone and forgets to lock the door? Whoever did this sure is careless."_ After one last glance around the room Gen stepped outside, the door shutting behind him once he took his hand off of it.

Gen now found himself in a rather bland looking hallway. The walls were a plain gray brick and the floor was a boring white tile. On the wall opposite of him were four metal doors similar to the one he just exited from. On the wall he was closer to were four more metal doors, including the one he came out from. At the end of the hall to his right was a larger double door.

Gen walked over to the door across from his and tried to open it, only to find that it was locked. He attempted to open a few more of the smaller doors only to find that they were all like that, even the one he was initially behind. There was what appeared to be a card reader next to each door, but not having any card keys on him he simply made his way over to the double doors at the end of the hall.

The double doors opened without any difficulty, leading into a rectangular room that looked the same as the previous hallway. On the wall to his right and on the wall across from him were two more sets of double doors. " _I've barely taken a few steps out of my 'room' and already I hate the design of this place."_

Deciding that neither door looked more important than the other Gen randomly picked the one across from him to go through. On the other side of the double doors was a hallway that looked identical to the one he was initially in. There were four metal doors along the left wall and another four lined up on the right. All of them were locked like before, not surprising Gen at all. " _Well shit, this ain't gonna help me at all. Might as well turn back."_

This time Gen went through the other set of doors that he had previously passed up on. On the other side was a large hallway that was pretty wide, he could fit three of himself laying down and still probably have room to spare. In the distance he could see a very large door on the opposite end, as well as a few hallways branching off, one far down on the left and two on the right, one close to him and the other at the opposite end. There was also a set of double doors about halfway down the right side of the hallway. " _Good a place as any to start, I guess."_ Gen walked over to the doors and went through them to see what was on the other side.

His first thought upon entering the new room was amazement at how tall it was. The room looked to have three floors to it, accessible via the staircases in two of the corners. The walkways above him were only a few feet wide, and from where he was standing the guardrails looked only about four feet high. Boxes upon boxes were stacked on the numerous shelves in the room. " _Must be a storage room of some sort."_ There were also four doors that lead into the storage room, the one Gen entered from and one on each of the other walls. Each of these doors had a very astounding trait in common - they all had a person standing in front of them, surprised at seeing each other.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The four strangers stood in a moment of awkward silence, all of them eyeing each other up, not sure of what to say. The person standing across from Gen appeared to be a woman, while the other two on the sides were men. " _I'm not going to get anywhere unless someone speaks up, might as well see if any of them have anything useful to say."_

Before Gen could say anything, the man to his left stepped into the center of the room and faced the woman across from him. He then did something rather unexpected in the situation: he got down on one knee and stretched out his arm in what Gen could only imagine was supposed to be a romantic gesture. "Oh what beauty! I've been graced with the presence of an angel! My dear, may I have the pleasure of knowing your name, the name of the one who has captured my heart?"

Gen had to admit, with the man's majestic voice and good looks his panties might've dropped had he been a gullible schoolgirl. Alas, he is not, so he merely looked on with a deadpan expression at the unusual display before him. The other man in the room had a small chuckle, while the girl being targeted by the flirt didn't seem to really react towards it. "Perhaps she would be more comfortable if you introduced yourself first, perhaps?" The other man said as he walked over to the man on the ground and helped him up. Gen also walked over so as not to be the odd one out.

"Ah but of course," The man backed away a little bit so that he was facing all of the others. "My name is Akuma Komori, the Ultimate Anesthesiologist. Charmed, I'm sure." He did a bow before continuing. "But my friends call me Aku."

* * *

 **Akuma Komori**

 **Ultimate Anesthesiologist**

* * *

Akuma has dark blue, short, tapered razor cut hair with some of it sticking up in the front and glistening dark hazel eyes. His skin is very pale and makes him look almost like a vampire, Gen was wondering if he had ever even been outside. His face is cleanly shaved with a slight five o'clock shadow, and he was pretty skinny for a man but not lanky. Somehow there were also a few traces of muscle on him. If Gen had to guess, he'd say that Akuma was only a couple of inches shorter than himself.

As for what he is wearing, it is a dark blue polo shirt that had a little sheep logo on the top right of the chest, he also is wearing a doctor's coat around his shoulders like a cape. His pants are khakis and his shoes are brown loafers with white socks barely visible. Akuma also has plenty of 'accessories' that showed off his occupation. Around his neck is a stethoscope, and there is an ID hanging off his belt. Gen also noticed what looked like aquamarine gloves hanging out of his right pocket, as well as a surgical mask around Akuma's left wrist. There was also a gold diamond studded ring on his right middle finger. Anyone can tell at a glance that Akuma is a doctor of some sort.

"My name's Gen Imamura, the Ultimate Racer." Gen extended a hand toward Akuma for an introductory handshake. Akuma looked a slight bit surprised at something, but took Gen's hand and shook it nonetheless.

"Yes well, that's all well and good but," Akuma gave a small cough before turning to face the woman who had yet to say anything. "I would like to know the name of this mysterious beauty!"

The girl gave a look to the three men in front of her before speaking up. "Oh… sorry… were you guys talking to me?"

Akuma seemed to deflate a little, while Gen and the other man only gave him a sympathetic look. The other man walked over to the woman. "Miss, we were wondering if you would care to introduce yourself?"

The girl was silent for a moment before speaking up. "Ah, my name is…" She paused for an uncomfortably long time while staring at something in the distance, eventually turning back to the group in front of her. "... Kanon Hitsuji." Another pause while she looked at something on the ground. "I'm the Ultimate Thanatologist. It's a pleasure to meet you."

* * *

 **Kanon Hitsuji**

 **Ultimate Thanatologist**

* * *

Kanon has black hair that reaches just above her shoulders, with a white strand of hair on the left side of her face. It is styled in a loose and messy ponytail. She has droopy yet sharp yellow eyes and fair skin, with a slender build and is slightly toned. She is much shorter than Gen is, probably by a whole half of a foot.

She is wearing a white blouse with a red bowtie which is covered by a black blazer, with a black and white checkered skirt, a pair of black stockings, and a pair of red high-top sneakers. She also wears a pair of black-frame glasses.

" _She's pretty cute, but I think there might be a few things missing up there with how she's acting."_ Gen pondered over this for a moment while Kanon diverted her eyes off to some other random part of the room. " _And what the heck is a Thanatologist? Is that even a real word?"_

"I could not have helped but notice that all three of you introduced yourselves as Ultimates." The only one unintroduced spoke up, trying to get everyone's attention. "Am I the only one who finds that a little unusual?"

" _Now that he mentions it…"_ Gen hadn't even realized it himself until the stranger brought it up. Why were all of them Ultimates? Or rather, why were a bunch of random Ultimates gathered here?

"So are we to take it that you are an Ultimate as well?" Akuma quizzically asked the unidentified man. "If so that would make us four for four."

"You would be correct in assuming that." The man nodded his head twice in affirmation. "My name is Ryou Ukawa, and I am the Ultimate Kidnapper."

* * *

 **Ryou Ukawa**

 **Ultimate Kidnapper(?)**

* * *

There was yet another moment of awkward silence as the other three simply stared at Ryou, disbelieve apparent in their eyes. A few uncomfortable shuffles and some hesitant glances later, Gen finally broke the ice. "Are you serious right now? Is that your actual talent? Kidnapping people?"

Ryou was thankfully quick to clarify. "Ah, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I am actually the Ultimate Social Worker, I just prefer being addressed by a more accurate title."

* * *

 **Ryou Ukawa**

 **Ultimate Social Worker**

* * *

Ryou is an average looking guy. His height and weight are average for his age, though he admittedly is on the large side of average. With that being said, he doesn't look fat or pudgy, just a bit solid. He also looks to be the same height as Kanon. His facial features are also rather average. That isn't to say that he is so dull as to be forgettable - his features are perfectly symmetrical and even, he has a clear and healthy complexion and generally he is attractive. Nothing about him is overly unusual or distinctive - even if it is noted that he is good looking, it is still an ordinary sort of good looking. He just looks like your average boy-next-door, and indeed he gives that basic, easy going 'boy next door' kind of aura. He is also rather tidy and well kept, but again, not in an overtly noticeable way.

His hair is dark brown, almost black, neat with a slightly tousled fringe, short and in no particular style. His eyes are a slightly lighter golden-brown and oval shaped and not too wide or narrow. However, his eyes look slightly narrower behind the glasses he wears, which are rectangular with a thin metallic black frame. His skin is also very lightly tanned.

Ryou is wearing dark blue skinny jeans, a black sleeveless hoodie-fleece over a long-sleeved, round necked t-shirt tucked into his jeans. The t-shirt is red with a pattern of random starbursts on the front. The hoodie is only zipped halfway up. The jeans are held up with a plain brown leather belt with a simple rectangular buckle. For footwear, he wears dark gray socks, and red-and-gray converses

"It doesn't sound very appropriate for a social worker to be a kidnapper, does it?" Gen couldn't help but express his doubts about Ryou. Akuma seemed to agree with the sentiment, nodding his head along with what Gen had said.

"I agree completely with that opinion." Gen wasn't expecting Ryou to not fight it at all, if anything it seems like he is a tad confused over it as well. "Do not get me wrong, I can understand why they would give me the title of Ultimate Social Worker, I just do not think it is wholly accurate."

"And why would that be?" Akuma said what Gen and probably Kanon were also thinking.

"Because my 'social work' was me kidnapping people, hence I think Ultimate Kidnapper is a more proper title for me." Ryou was certainly making Gen's brain hurt from how unusual his story was, and he had a feeling it was a long story.

"Unfortunately, after I was arrested I had to slow down my kidnappings." This raised more than a couple of eyebrows in the room. Surprisingly, Kanon was the one to speak up after Ryou.

"Oh, you were arrested too Ryou?" This immediately drew the attention of the other three currently present, all of them wondering how on Earth the air headed girl in front of them could have been arrested.

It would seem the Akuma was having the most trouble understanding it. "My dear Kanon, what could you have done to warrant an arrest?" Gen couldn't help but think there was a bit of desperation in his voice, but he was unsure if he was imagining it or not.

"Oh it wasn't anything serious." It looked like she was going to end it there, but whether she noticed the pleading look in Akuma's eyes or if she simply needed another pause was unknown to Gen, as she continued a little later. "I just can't help myself when it comes to hoarding things. I just sorta take things I like."

" _Oh great, she's also a kleptomaniac."_ Gen let out an inward sigh at the new revelation.

"I see" Ryou seemed to have hit another realization. "All four of us are Ultimates, and currently half of us are criminals." He turned to face Gen. "Are you also a criminal?"

Gen hesitated for a little longer than he probably should have before answering. "...I was arrested for several counts of assault." Ryou nodded his head twice as if confirming his own suspicions. "But I swear that they all got what they deserved."

"Be that as it may," Ryou now turned to face Akuma. "Three out of four of us are criminals. Care to make that one hundred percent, Aku?"

Akuma was currently standing a little farther back from the others, as if trying to separate himself from the group. "Well, sorry to disappoint, but unlike the rest of you I am without a doubt innocent." Something about the way he said it made Gen doubtful. He has heard many times people claiming innocence behind bars, however from his own personal experience he found it to rarely be true.

"Oh Aku, it's fine. We don't care if you were arrested or not, we won't judge you for it." Hearing Kanon say this seems to have revitalized Akuma's spirits, and he elaborated further on his comments.

"Well, since my dearest Kanon seems interested," Akuma gave her a smile which she didn't react to at all, although it would seem Akuma didn't care. "While it is true that I was arrested, I swear on my life that I am innocent! I was framed I tell you!"

" _Sheesh, we don't need the theatrics, pal."_ One thing was clear to Gen: Akuma was a little goofy. It would seem believable that he was innocent, it was rather hard to imagine Akuma doing something bad enough for jail, unless it were maybe sexual harassment. " _Well he is a doctor that specializes in knocking people out…"_ Nope, stopping right there. Gen shock his head to the side. He was getting a little carried away, he didn't even know what Akuma was arrested for.

"Alright, that is enough of that." Ryou once again took control of the discussion. "So not only are we all Ultimates, but we are all also criminals, or at least have been arrested as criminals." He added that last part probably to appease Akuma. "I find it hard to imagine this is a coincidence."

"Yeah, probably not." Gen was wondering about that himself. Someone somewhere decided to kidnap four Ultimate Criminals and place them who knows where. "Hey wait, Ryou you are a kidnapper, aren't you? Do you have anything to do with us being here?"

Ryou gave a small chuckle before defending himself. "I can promise you that I have nothing to do with our current situation. I am as clueless about all of this as you are."

"Where are we anyway?" Akuma brought up a good point. Gen was mentally kicking himself for not asking about that earlier. "The last thing I remember was falling asleep in my cell. The next thing I knew, I was in this place."

The other three shared similar tales. None of them had any idea where they were, how they got here, or why they were here. " _I probably should have expected as much, it would have been to easy to figure it out so quick."_

Over the next several minutes there was a little small talk between the Ultimates, none of it was very meaningful though. Eventually Akuma tried his hand at flirting with Kanon again. Gen really was not planning on watching how it was going to turn out, so he turned to leave the room. "Ah wait, before you go," Ryou had walked over to Gen, apparently also not interested in watching the romantic comedy unfolding behind him. "Did you happen to get one of these MonoPad things?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Gen was unsure where Ryou was going with this.

"Did you happen to recently check the profiles icon?" Gen hadn't done that since he left his initial room. Curiously he brought out his Monopad and checked the profiles. There were now four icons lit up instead of only one, each representing a person in the storage room. "As you can see, it added the profiles of everyone we met to the list."

"That does seem to be the case." Gen tapped on Akuma's icon out of curiosity. " _Damn, that guy needs to put on a few pounds."_

"It would be safe to assume then that there are sixteen of us in here somewhere." It makes sense to Gen, sixteen icons for sixteen people.

"How in the world did someone manage to abduct sixteen Ultimates?" Clearly whoever was behind all of this had a lot of power or influence, or at the least money.

"Not just sixteen Ultimates, but sixteen criminals as well." That part was also very true, why criminals of all people? Gen didn't think someone who was in jail was a good target for ransom, if that is what this is about. "You were planning on exploring around, were you not?"

Gen was wondering what that had to do with what they were talking about. "Well I'm not gonna find an exit standing around here."

"Very true." Ryou walked over and placed a hand on Gen's shoulder, making him tense up a little. "Just be careful. Everyone in this room may be rather harmless as far as criminals are concerned, but I cannot say the same of those we have not met yet."

It was a very good point. For all Gen knew there could be murderers walking around outside right now. " _Seems like whoever took us isn't the only one I need to watch out for."_

"Thanks for the concern," Gen brushed Ryou's hand off his shoulder and stepped towards the door. "But I'm pretty confident I can hold my own in a scuffle."

"Very well." Ryou looked over at Akuma and Kanon, still doing much the same as when they were last being focused on. "I shall stay here, at least for awhile. I feel as though these two require some supervision."

Gen gave one last nod to Ryou before stepping back into the hall and shutting the door behind him. " _What the fuck is going on and why did I have to be a part of it?"_

* * *

 **AN: Is it me, or are introductions the hardest part of anything to write ever? Anyways, I hope I did these wonderful characters justice and portrayed them at least somewhat accurately.**

 **There are still two weeks until my January 5th deadline for submitting an OC. Until that deadline hits I probably won't upload anymore chapters or confirm anyone else as being in.**

 **Check my profile if you want to see what talents have been submitted already and eventually who will get chosen. You are free to send in as many OCs as you want, just know that I will more likely than not only take one of them.**


	3. Prologue II

Gen was currently standing in front of the door to the storage room in the wide hallway he was in earlier. A sigh was let out before he decided on where to blindly wander over to next. He turned to his left to go back towards the door to the hallway so that he could go down the hall he had passed up to go to the storage room. Once he reached that hall he began to walk down it, only to stop halfway down the path. There was a door open just a little bit on his left. A quick peek revealed that it lead right back into the storage room, with three people Gen met earlier still inside. " _I just left, don't have much of a reason to say hello again."_

Keeping quiet so as not to draw the occupants attention, Gen continued down the hallway some more. It ended a short while later, extending out to the left instead of straight. Look down this new hall he could see four doors. One was on the left wall, probably leading back into the storage room if Gen had to guess. The other three were on the right wall, one close to him, one in the middle, and one at the other at the end of the hall. " _Well in times like this convenience is a good decider."_

Entering the door closest to him, Gen found himself in what looked like a laundry room of some sort. There were washing machines all along the wall to his left, and on the wall opposite of him was a clothes line above a small grate, probably to collect water that would drip down. On the right wall was a few cabinets that were left opened, showing off the chemicals and miscellaneous objects inside. In the center of the room was a wooden table that had a few baskets on it. It looked like there were six chairs around the table, two of which were currently occupied. " _Well it looks like I get to play the introduction game again."_

One of the other people in the room, a girl, noticed Gen and sprang right out of their seat to greet him. "Ah, and so a new character gallantly walks onto the stage. His flashy appearance and piercing demeanor send chills all throughout my spine!" She was closer to Gen than he was comfortable with and he took a few steps back to the entrance.

" _What the hell is this girl on?"_ Gen looked in confusion to the other person who was sitting down, another girl by the looks of it. She gave him a look that screamed 'Don't pull me into this.' Gen could only sigh as he began the chore of introducing himself. "I'm Gen Imamura, the Ultimate Racer. It's nice to meet you." The last bit was kind of forced, but Gen figured it was better to play it safe.

The weird girl gave a small twirl on her toes and stopped with a finger outstretched toward Gen. "It seems that you are yet another golden apple, plucked from the heavens and cast into this dubious basket." She twirled again before stopping with her hands on her hips. "It should please you to know that you are not alone, for I too am an Ultimate. I am Yoko Miura, the Ultimate Opera Singer."

* * *

 **Yoko Miura**

 **Ultimate Opera Singer**

* * *

Yoko looked like she was a little over five and a half feet tall, although a few of those inches probably came from her shoes. She is slightly curvy and a little physically fit with fair skin. Her hair is medium brown worn in a ballerina style bun, and it seemed a little thin. There was also a white rose hair clip adorning her bun. Largish dark purple eyes look at Gen, standing out against the noticeable makeup on her face.

She has a knitted white infinity scarf, and a loose fitting black dress with short ruffled sleeves and hem that reaches her finger tips. Gen thought he saw purple and blue under her dress, but he didn't want to look closer to find out. Yoko is wearing knee high black leather boots with thin 2½ inch heels and a dark blue backpack with a water bottle clipped on the side. " _Was she seriously spinning while wearing those on her feet!?"_

"Oh, an opera singer? That's a pretty neat talent." Gen figured that he might as well play nice, it makes things go smoother when dealing with eccentrics, at least from his personal experience.

Yoko smiled brightly at his remarks, perhaps a bit too much as it sort of creeped out Gen a little. "Do you happen to be a fan of the opera, Gen?"

"Oh no, I can't say I've ever been to one. Those are the things where the people on stage go 'ahhhhhhhhhhh' for long periods of time, right?" Gen had to admit, music was not his strong point, let alone opera.

"Pft, THAT is what you think of opera!?" Gen was starting to regret his honest answer, as it seems Yoko was not taking kindly to it. "I had thought you as cultured, but evidently you are nothing but another peasant. Such ignorance is LAUGHABLE. Ohohohohohoho!"

" _Jeez lady, enough with the condescending shit."_ Gen let out a sigh again as Yoko continued belittling him for being an 'uncultured swine'. "Alright, I get it, I don't know opera. Is there anything else you feel like saying or should I just walk out now?"

"Hmph, so not only do you have poor taste, but you are rude as well." Yoko looked about as fed up with Gen as he did with her and walked over to the door aggressively. "Well, I think I will exit stage left now. It is clear to me that no one in this room is appreciative of the arts." She left the room as dramatically as she was in the room, by slamming the door behind her.

" _So long, snob."_

"Thanks for getting rid of her, she was annoying." Gen turned around to see the other girl get out of her chair and head towards the door herself.

" _I totally forgot she was in here Come to think of it, I forgot to ask if the opera chick was a criminal or not."_ Gen gave himself a mental facepalm for his forgetfulness. The sound of the door opening brought him back to reality as it looks like the other girl was about to leave herself. "Ah, wait please. Could you introduce yourself?"

The girl turned to him rather reluctantly before giving in to his demands. "Hanami Kagetateno, Ultimate Robotics Engineer."

* * *

 **Hanami Kagetateno**

 **Ultimate Robotics Engineer**

* * *

Hanami is a short, childish looking girl, who looks more like a middle schooler than a high school student. Her skin is somewhat pale, she probably doesn't go outside very much. She has short, fluffy black hair with side-swept, choppy bangs. Some is tucked behind her left ear, but not the other, and her hair reaches down to her neck. Her soft pink eyes are half-lidded and she has slight bags under her eyes.

Hanami wears a sleeveless, collared white shirt and a pair of rather short navy blue shorts. She also wears a pair of navy blue arm warmers and a navy blue tie. Over all of this, she is wearing a grey bunny hooded plush wrap, currently not on all the way. Strangely, she is wearing no shoes, but has a pair of mismatching stockings: a grey one with navy blue stars and one with navy blue and grey stripes. She noticed Gen looking at her and pulled her bunny hood over her eyes. " _Looks like I have some competition in the unusual outfit contest."_

"Can I go now?" Hanami seemed more than a little eager to leave and go do her own thing.

"Before you do, may I ask if you've ever been arrested? I'm trying to confirm a theory." Gen was not going to forget this time.

"...Hacking." Gen nodded in acknowledgement. He sort of figured she couldn't have done anything major, she looked rather harmless. "You?"

"Oh just a few minor offences, nothing dangerous if that's what you're worried about." Hanami gave a 'hmm' in response and started walking out of the laundry room. Gen didn't have any real reason to stop her so he just let her go. " _Seems a little shy."_ He gave the room another quick once over before deciding to leave himself. " _No point standing around in an empty room."_

After Gen exited the room he walked over to the lone door on the left wall. Just as he expected, it led back into the storage room. The room was currently empty however, the three Gen met earlier absent. " _Guess they found something better to do with their time."_ After he closed the door and turned around to open the other one, it suddenly opened and a man came walking out of it in a huff. " _Oh don't you look pleasant."_

The newcomer has light brown hair that is slightly combed to have the front going up in a spiral, exposing his forehead. He has black eyes that appear tired and annoyed, and is mostly clean shaven.

The man is wearing a brown t-shirt and simple blue jeans. On top of this he is wearing a camouflage cloak that covers most of his body, his right arm was presumably under his cloak while his left one was perfectly visible. He wears a belt and has a small backpack. As much as he didn't want to, Gen figured he should get the stranger's identity recorded. "Hey, mind giving me an introduction over here?"

The man gave Gen what could almost be described as a snarl before giving a reply. "Yeah? And just why would I waste my time with that? Fuck you."

" _Oh great, another drama queen."_ Gen gave one of his trademark sighs while thinking of an appropriate comeback. "Is that an offer?" That angle always got a reaction out of people, and it seems it would this time too.

"Har-de-fucking-har. A real comedian over here." The other man was visibly angry, his face reddened with a vein protruding from his forehead. Gen had to chuckle to himself, riling up people like this was a great source of entertainment.

Gen placed himself squarely in front of the angry guy, crossing his arms and giving a smug smile. "Come on now, we can keep this civil, can't we?" The tone in Gen's voice made it clear that he was determined to get a name out of the stranger, even if he had to stand there all day.

The two of them stared down for what felt like minutes, though was probably more like a few seconds. Neither of them wanted to give the other an edge, but eventually the other guy gave a grunt before answering. "Tch, fine asshole, if it'll get you to stop pestering me. Name's Ryo Hayashi, Ultimate Camper. Now go fuck off you pissant."

* * *

 **Ryo Hayashi**

 **Ultimate Camper**

* * *

" _Geez, what is with this guy? No reason to be such a dick."_ Gen sized up Ryo once again before another thought hit him. " _Wait, that guy from earlier was named Ryou, and this guy is named Ryo. That's gonna be a little too confusing. Well I like that other guy more, so this prick will be Hayashi. Problem solved."_ Gen gave himself a mental pat on the back for his impressive, at least to him, problem solving skills. Gen then thought that he should at least introduce himself, even if Hayashi probably didn't care. "Kay, good to meet you Hayashi, My name is-"

"Don't care." And with that concise statement Hayashi walked away down the hall.

" _What the hell would an Ultimate Camper do anyway?"_ Left staring at his camo cloak from behind, Gen thought a few more unpleasant thoughts about Hayashi before getting over it and heading into the room Hayashi had exited from.

The room itself was incredible unremarkable. There was absolutely nothing inside of it whatsoever, the plain walls and floor making the whole room seem rather pointless. " _I fail to see why this room needs to exist."_ There was one interesting bit though, there was a woman examining a portion of the wall. Gen could not see what see was looking at however as her body was blocking it from his view. " _Well here's hoping she's a bit more agreeable than some of the other I've recently met."_

The woman noticed Gen presence and began to speak to him while turning around. "Oh, so you did come back. What happened to all-" She stopped herself when she saw Gen, a slight bit of embarrassment on her face. "Er, sorry, thought you were someone else. Let's try that again."

" _Top dollar says she was expecting Hayashi."_

"I am Masuyo Fujimura, the one who is taking the field of archaeology by storm through my own personal discoveries and accomplishments! Remember my name, for the name of the Ultimate Archaeologist will go down in history! Of course, you probably have already heard of me, right?"

* * *

 **Masuyo Fujimura**

 **Ultimate Archaeologist**

* * *

" _Finally, someone with a talent that's easy to understand."_ Masuyo has curly blonde hair, which was probably dyed, that goes down to her upper back. She has light brown eyes and her skin-tone is hazel to match. She has a very intricate tattoo sleeve that runs down her entire left arm depicting what could be assumed were various artifacts and historical monuments. A few Gen could pick out were a katana, an oni mask, a vase, a book, a pyramid, a skull, and a clay figure, just to name some. She is rather thin and doesn't have a particular lot of muscle, she is roughly three inches shorter than Gen.

She has a grey-colored short-sleeve jacket that she is wearing unbuttoned, showing off a white t-shirt underneath. She wears dark brown cargo pants that are filled with pockets. She also has a red backpack. " _Gotta say, she's really rocking those tats."_ Gen could not help but be impressed with the tattoos on her arm, they must have taken forever to make. "Nice to meet you, I'm Gen Imamura, the Ultimate Racer." Gen extended a hand to Masuyo, she is definitely better than that last guy was.

"Are you Western or something?" She gave a dry laugh but took his hand regardless.

"Ah, I've just spent a lot of time in Nevada, that's all. Guess the greeting just stuck with me." Gen never could quite remember that a handshake was not the most common way to greet others in Japan, but he was so used to them by now that they had ingrained themselves into his mind.

"Ooooooo, so you've also been to America, Gen?" After their handshake Masuyo had walked back over to the wall she was earlier looking at. She didn't stay still though, and started pacing up and down the back wall.

"Sure, I've been to America plenty of times. Europe too. Heck I've even gone to Australia once." Due to his work, Gen had travelled to many places to compete in races. His favorite was Nevada in America, he had even visited it many times on his own personal time. "I take it that you yourself are something of a globetrotter?"

Masuyo happily replied, still walking back and forth along the wall. "You know it! For someone as smart and resourceful as myself, venturing to the far corners of the Earth is needed to find more wonderful undiscovered future discoveries of the century!" The passion in her voice was difficult to misinterpret, it was clear she adored what she did very much. "I wouldn't be much of a world famous archaeologist if I stayed in one place all the time!" She stopped pacing back and forth along the wall at the middle and faced Gen with a finger outstretched. "You have heard of me, right? You didn't answer the last time I asked."

"I've been out of the loop with current events, so I am sorry to say that I haven't." Gen was hoping that her reaction would be less spiteful than Yoko's was earlier, he'd rather not deal with that again.

"I see…" She trailed off and was mumbling something, but Gen could not quite hear what it was. "Oh well! Nothing for it but to try harder! I promise you that now that you know who I am you shall never forget it! For the name of Masuyo Fujimura is one that they will be writing about for decades to come!"

" _Well she took it better than I thought she would. Nice girl, if a bit vain."_ Gen then remembered that when he walked in she was looking at something on the wall and found himself curious as to what could be attention grabbing in this random room. "Say Masuyo, what was it that you were looking at in here earlier?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Masuyo motion Gen over to where she was standing and stepped to the side to point to a small slot on the wall.

" _It sort of looks like a coin slot."_ It was rather curious as to why it was there though, it looked really out of place on the barren wall. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"I have a theory or two. Most likely this spot here is related to this spot here!" She put her hand on the wall and traced the outline of a small square indent that was very hard to spot. "I would say with great certainty that if we put something in that slot, then something will come out of this spot on the wall!"

"So this whole room exists just to house a vending machine?"

"Pretty much!"

" _Well that seems like a rather dumb design choice."_ Gen sighed again. " _This room is literally a dead end. No way out in here."_ He turned and walked back to the door to the room. "Well Masuyo, it's been a pleasure, but I need to look for a way out, and clearly it isn't in here."

"Yeah I was getting pretty bored of this place too." She ran past Gen, almost knocking him over, and started running down the hall. "Let me know if you find a way out!"

"Sure…. Okay, I guess?" Gen wasn't quite sure why he bothered to reply, she was already out of earshot. " _Well, only one door left in this area, might as well check it out."_ Gen let out one more sigh and made his way into the last room in the hall.

Before he could even begin to look around the new room, Gen's eardrums were assaulted by an overly cheerful greeting. "Why hellooooooo there~! I see this mystery party has another guest~! You're a little late, but whateeeeeeevs~!" It would seem that the person talking to him was a guy, and nearby there was also a girl.

" _How many more times am I going to have introduce myself in the next hour?"_ Gen sighed again. "Gen Imamura, Ultimate Racer. You?"

"Oooooooooh so you areeee another Ultimate! Score one for me~!" The man gave himself a little cheer and the girl next to him cracked a little smile. "I am Jun Takahashi, and I have the title of Ultimate Children's Party Planner~! I'm sure the two of us will be gooooood friends~!"

* * *

 **Jun Takahashi**

 **Ultimate Children's Party Planner**

* * *

Jun is a about four inches shorter than Gen and has a rather lean frame for his figure, being of a healthy weight and appearance. Overall he is not very muscular, but his arms and legs do have a good tone. Accompanying this, his general face shape is a little angular with a slightly pointed chin and small upturned nose. His eyes are rounded and resemble two pools of melted jade stones, with peach coloured skin and small dimples at his cheeks. As well as this, Jun's hair is styled in a slightly messy manner, leaving uneven copper coloured waves around his face, hanging to just past his ears with a fringe that almost covers the top left side of his face, obscuring his left eye, although his fringe doesn't seem to be bothering him. Oddly, he has two stubborn pieces of hair at both the left and right sides of his head which stick up outwards and curve a little to their respective side, slightly resembling a pair of horns.

His clothing certainly seems to match his profession, carrying a few cute childish quirks. His clothes are a pale blue buttoned shirt complete with a V-shaped collar, worn with a pair of light brown trousers and black smart shoes. With his shirt, Jun is wearing a novelty tie which is bright green and depicting cats and dogs wearing party hats and bow-ties. The pockets of his trousers are also unusually filled with bright coloured handkerchiefs, deflated balloons, and fake flowers. Additionally, he wears a navy coloured smart jacket over his shirt, a dark grey belt with a rainbow shaped buckle and a small silver wristwatch. " _What an… interesting looking fellow. I guess I'm not one to talk though."_

"But I gotta say, with an outfit like that, you'd be perfect at one of my parties~! Riiiiight Aruna~? Riiiiight~!?" Jun then motioned to the girl next to him, presumably named Aruna.

"Yes, that is correct! His outfit is reminding me of the superheroes!" It became immediately clear to Gen that Japanese was not her first language, but at least he could understand what she was saying. "But Aruna needs to introduce. Aruna's name is Aruna Agasa-" She seemed to stop herself rather abruptly before continuing. "Sorry, old habit. Aruna's name is Aruna Abidah Adah. Aruna is a Super Team Manager."

* * *

 **Aruna Adah**

 **Ultimate Team Manager**

* * *

Aruna is a little petite, athletic and has a rather well proportioned chest. Her skin tone is quite dark and she is clearly not japanese. Her face is oval shaped and she has dark almond eyes. Her dark brown hair goes down to her shoulders.

She is wearing a pink shirt with darker pink stripes and X shaped buttons, and a white and red jacket being used as a cape. On her head is a pink headband with a flowery designs, and there is a heart pin on her left chest. The rest of her outfit consisted of a yellow buttoned skirt over brown capri pants and purple sneakers. "Do you know who Aruna is? Aruna has been over all the news in recent."

"The news and I haven't had much of a chance to get intimate with each other in recent years." It would seem that she is somewhat famous. " _Thinking on it, I suppose we all are to some degree."_

"Ah, in that case Aruna will tell you. Aruna is… Aruna is known as an illegal immigrant." Gen could not help but think that was somewhat obvious, but he certainly wasn't going to say that.

" _Wait, so her crime was just being here illegally? Seems pretty minor."_ It was then that Gen remembered that he forgot to ask Hayashi and Masuyo if they had a criminal history. " _Why am I so forgetful lately?"_

"Can you believe it? There was such a public outcry over her arrest~! I can't believe she has sooooo many sympathizers~!" Jun had jumped onto a couch behind him and was now lying on it, chuckling. "I never got such a send off when I was arrested~!"

Gen was thankful that the opportunity to ask Jun about his arrest was served to him on a silver platter. "And what were you arrested for, Jun?"

"Well, sometimes I would take the kiddos home after a party~! And I wouldn't give them back until the money came rolling in~!" It was a little off putting hearing him say it like that, but at least he was honest about what he did, probably.

"So you're also a kidnapper?" Gen found it interesting that both Jun and Ryou were arrested for the same thing, though he had a hunch the circumstances were greatly different.

"Did you kidnap people too Gen?" He didn't realize until Jun responded that his phrasing could have been better.

"No no, that was only the one time. I was talking about someone I met earlier who told me they were the Ultimate Kidnapper."

"Oooooooh? Now THAT'S someone I just goooooootta see~!" Jun practically jumped off the couch he was on and bounced excitedly over to the door. "Toodles all~! I got a new bestie to meeeeet~!" Gen could hear him laughing as he went to the halls, most likely bouncing into the walls with glee.

" _What a bundle of energy."_

"He is interesting follow, is not he?" It was now just Gen and Aruna left in the room, the one which Gen had yet to properly look over.

The room itself was actually fairly comfortable looking. There was a couch and some recliners in the middle facing a TV on top of a stand with some drawers. There were some fake plants in the corners of the room, adding a splash of color against the dull background. Near the back of the room was a table with some wooden chairs around it as well as a magazine rack nearby. " _Probably a lounge of some kind if I had to guess."_

"Still, Aruna never imagined being in show like this." Gen wasn't quite sure what she meant by that.

"Care to elaborate?"

"This is just weird game show yes? Japan loves strange television. Cameras probably hidden everywhere."

" _So she's in denial of this whole situation."_ Gen sighed once more. "Aruna, I really don't think that this is a show."

"Oh? But what else could it be? Aruna thinks show is only sense answer." She seemed pretty committed to her theory, and Gen didn't feel like trying to change her mind.

"At any rate, it doesn't seem like there is a way out in here." As tempting as it would be to lay down on the couch and take a nice nap, Gen had to keep focused with his original objective. "I'm going to look around some more in other areas. You?"

"Ah yes yes, that is good idea. Aruna shall go looking as well." The two of them stepped out of the lounge together and began trekking down the hall.

" _Is everyone here going to be so zany?"_

* * *

 **AN: At long last the next part of the prologue in finished! Yeah, I took longer on this than I expected too, but what can you do when you're a full time college student and part time employee? Hopefully the wait won't be so long next time.**

 **Big thanks again to everyone who sent in OCs, it truly was hard to narrow it down to just 16, but such is the name of the game. Some of the details I might change a little, nothing major I promise. This is all to make the cast a bit more different than each other.**

 **I also spent the first week after getting the roster finalized working on 'behind the scenes' work. All of the cases have most of the details hammered out, so that's a plus. Who lives and dies is set in stone, but it's still possible I might do revisions.**

 **Please leave a review with whatever you want to say, they are a good way for me to see who's still reading and what I might need to work on.**


	4. Prologue III

The rather unique looking pair of Gen and Aruna continued their adventures in the hallway. A short bit after leaving the lounge going straight, they found a door on the left wall. Just as Gen figured, it lead right back into the storage room. " _So this whole hallway seems to wrap around the storage room. Weird design choice."_ Gen allowed Aruna a few moments to look over the room before they began to keep walking. They had soon found themselves back in the wide hallway from earlier, this time at the far end. Across from them was another hallway similar to the one they just left, and on their right was a very large and imposing looking door. " _Well doesn't that look important."_

"Aruna thought to check big door, but opening it is not wanting to do." Gen grabbed on of the handles and gave it a hefty tug, but sure enough it was locked. "Aruna thinks it funny how many shut doors we have. Awfully restrictive they is."

"Nothing for it but to check somewhere else I guess." Giving a sigh, Gen let go of the door handle and began walking with Aruna down the hall across from them.

The hall itself was not that long, stopping after a small walk. There were two sets of doors on the left wall, the only thing of note in the empty passage. Going through the one closest to them, the two found themselves in what looked like a massive cafeteria. There were two long gray tables with many seats going all the way to the back of the room. At the back was a place to go get food it looked like. It was hard to see from where he was standing, but Gen thought he could see trays and various colored foods over there. The ceiling was very high, easily two stories. It would also seem the other door in the hall also led into this cafeteria, it was a little ways further down the wall.

To top it all of, the place looked pretty crowded. " _Wonder what made everyone have an impromptu meetup here of all places?"_ Sure enough, everyone Gen had met up with previously was now in this one room. There were also some new faces here. " _I hope this is everyone, introducing myself over and over again is starting to get irritating."_

"Wow! So many people! Aruna is wanting to meet all of them!" She was certainly looking forward to it more than Gen was.

"That's a good idea, why don't you start over there?" Gen pointed over to a nearby group. It was Akuma trying to flirt with Masuyo. Hanami was sitting near them, though she looked like she was regretting her choice of seat. "They are a nice enough bunch."

"Ah, you have had head start on friend making? Good! Aruna will go and talk to them!" She briskly walked over to the three of them, happy to meet her new friends.

" _I may have just sent you there to see if Akuma would flirt with you too or not."_ Gen's prediction was right on the money as Akuma immediately gave Aruna his undivided attention, much to the relief of Masuyo and the annoyance of Hanami. " _Heh heh, okay enough of that, time to see who else is stuck in this weird ass place."_

Looking in the corner Gen saw a man sitting by himself away from everyone else. " _Looks like the loner type, he's probably looking forward to this as much as I am."_ Sighing, Gen went over to the man and sat across from him. "Yo, name's Gen Imamura, Ultimate Racer. Mind introducing yourself so we can both get on to better things?"

The man looked mildly annoyed that Gen was talking to him, but introduced himself regardless. "Hmph, fine. Botan Fukushima, Ultimate Psychopathologist."

* * *

 **Botan Fukushima**

 **Ultimate Psychopathologist**

* * *

Botan has medium length mint green hair that's curly and unkempt that reaches his neck, brushing against it a bit. His front bangs are swept to the left side, where it's fuller and thicker than the right. His eyes are a slate gray that look dull. He has thin eyelashes and eyebrows. His body looks slender and his skin tone is about average. He looked about two inches shorter than Gen.

Botan is wearing an unbuttoned dark gray wool field coat over a slate gray plaid flannel undershirt. He has sleek black slim jeans, along with dark slate gray sneakers. He has a black scarf wrapped around his neck that has many ribbon awareness type pins pinned on. Two metal gray spiked piercings are on each ear. "Will that be all?"

"You seem a little on edge." Gen was wondering why he was attempting small talk with Botan, the man clearly wanted him gone.

"It's more surprising to me how everyone else here seems to be taking this whole thing rather lightly." It was a valid point, despite all of them being kidnapped and taken to some unfamiliar place, none of them were freaking out all that much. "In situations such as this, playing it cautious is the only rational choice."

"Fair enough, I guess." Gen stood up to leave, feeling like Botan would rather he left already. Right as he was about to leave, Gen remembered to ask if Botan had a criminal background. "Hey Botan, last question. Did you get arrested for anything before coming here?"

Botan did not look very happy with Gen right now. "Do you always ask strangers such personal questions?" Gen put up his hands in a show of surrender, chuckling as he walked away.

" _Should of figured he wouldn't want to say. Oh well."_ Gen sighed before looking for his next target. He didn't have to look very long, there was a rather loud conversation happening nearby that would be hard to miss. He could see Yoko storming away from another girl who was laughing. " _Wonder what's got her highness all ruffled up."_

"Oh my, if it isn't the peasant from earlier." Yoko noticed Gen as she was trodding along. "I'm sure someone of your stature will get along with that pig over there quite well."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Gen was actually a little glad that the other girl managed to get under Yoko's skin like this.

"Go and see for yourself, I'm sure the two of you will be like peas in a pod. A smelly pod that was forgotten about and left after the harvesting season only to be eaten by insects and shriveled up in the sun!" Yoko left in a huff, sitting herself down away from everyone else to cool down.

" _Okay, now I gotta meet this gal."_ Gen went over to introduce himself. The girl had pale skin covered in freckles, light pink hair tied in two dutch braids, with bangs cut just above her grey eyes. She was small, probably close to 5'2", with a petite stature.

She was wearing black shorts, ankle-high high-heeled black boots, and a over-sized dark teal sweatshirt. There was paints of various colors smeared across her outfit. "Nice job dealing with Yoko. Hat's off to you."

"Heh, thanks fucko. I guess she couldn't handle my colorful vocabulary." She gave a wide grin and a thumbs up. "I mean, I wasn't trying to make her leave or anything, but I ain't gonna censor shit for nobody."

"Rock on girl, rock on." Gen could tell the two of them were going to get along just as Yoko described, like peas in a pod. "Name's Gen Imamura, I'm the Ultimate Racer. It's a real joy to meet you."

"With a bitchin palette like that, I figured you must of been some flashy shit or something." Gen couldn't deny that his outfit was loud and showy, not that he likes it much himself. "I'm Koharu Tadashi, painter extraordinaire! You need any paintings, real or not, I'm your woman! Just be prepared to pay up!"

* * *

 **Koharu Tadashi**

 **Ultimate Painter**

* * *

" _I guess her being a painter was pretty obvious, she has paint all over herself."_ Thankfully she said her crime without even being asked, saving Gen the hassle of asking himself. "So I take it that you forge paintings in addition to making your own?"

"Sure," Koharu seemed rather proud of this, not a hint of shame anywhere in her voice. "Don't get me wrong, making original works is fun and all, but forgeries make a shitton more money and require a hell of a lot less creativity!"

" _I would imagine forgeries need at least some creativity."_ Gen sighed to himself. As much as he would like to keep talking with Koharu, he knew that he had more pressing matters to attend to. "Sorry to cut the pleasantries short Koharu, but I feel like I need to meet everyone and keep looking for a way outta this place."

"Heh, no worries here man! I'll be around if you need me." She gave a wave as Gen turned to walk to the next group of people.

A little ways down the room Gen could see Kanon sitting with two girls he hadn't met yet. " _Are they having a tea party? At a time like this?"_ Gen sighed again. " _Well I guess it doesn't matter, I need to talk to them anyway."_ He walked over to the three ladies, Kanon giving a small wave as he approached.

"Oh… hi Gen." Kanon seemed to be enjoying herself, casually sipping tea while looking around the room at the various going ons. "Do you… want a cup?"

"I have plenty, so please help yourself to some." The woman speaking seemed to be the one who set up their little tea party, Gen could see a few packets hanging out of her pocket. "C'mon, it ain't gonna kill ya! I insist."

Feeling like there was no other solution but to give in, Gen sat down with them begrudgingly. The other girl who was drinking tea earlier spoke up. "Oh yeah, we also know who you are already. I asked Kanon if she knew you when you walked in." She gave him a wide smile as if knowing he would be glad to hear that. She was right in that regard, constantly introducing himself was rather tiring.

"Ah, I see." The first girl poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him. Not wanting to risk upsetting her he took a sip and found himself actually enjoying it. "This is pretty good. Earl Grey I take it?"

"Yes that right! I'm glad you like it!" She seemed elated to know that Gen appreciated her tea. "I suppose I should introduce myself huh? I'm Umeko Nakajima, the Ultimate Tea Specialist! I hope we get along well!"

* * *

 **Umeko Nakajima**

 **Ultimate Tea Specialist**

* * *

Umeko has ombre hair styled in a curly bob with choppy bangs. Her sharp, catlike eyes are green and she has a tan skin tone. Her face is round with a button nose and faint freckles across her nose and cheeks. She wears mascara and a winged eyeliner, emphasizing her feline eyes. Gen also though that he saw bags under her eyes, as if she were tired. By his estimate she looked around 5'3".

Umeko is wearing a sleeveless white button down with a long scarlet red-base kimono jacket with intricate flower and koi fish designs that reaches down to her ankles. There's a red ribbon tied around her waist to keep the kimono jacket in place. Her indigo knee-length skirt is flowy and she has tan flats. There is a silver locket anklet around her neck. " _A tea specialist huh? I guess that would explain all this."_

"Hey Hey! My turn now!" The other girl seemed a little eager to introduce herself, she was even spinning her chair, despite it not having wheels.

" _Impressive."_

"The name is Momoko Satou! But you can call me Momo! I'm the Ultimate Phobologist! Basically a psychologist that studies fears!"

* * *

 **Momoko Satou**

 **Ultimate Phobologist**

* * *

Momoko is a small petite girl with pale skin and childlike features. Her round golden eyes go well with her long silver hair, giving her an angel like appearance. She looked about an inch under being five feet.

Momoko is wearing a white long sleeve button up shirt and a bright pink necktie. She also wears a bright pink pleated skirt, white knee high socks, and dark brown oxford shoes. Her large light brown thick wool cardigan is clearly oversized and covers her hands completely, making her look even smaller than she already is. To complete her look she has a pair of thick rimmed red glasses. " _Why not just call yourself a psychologist then? Actually, what's with all the -ologists around here anyway?"_

"And I am Kanon Hitsuji… the Ultimate Thanatologist."

* * *

 **Kanon Hitsuji**

 **Ultimate Thanatologist**

* * *

Gen really could not understand what goes on in Kanon's head. "Uh Kanon, I already know who you are."

"Oh… yeah, I guess you do." She didn't seem bothered by her error and just went back to sipping her tea.

"Anyways…" Gen cleared his throat as if trying to ignore that awkward exchange. "Where did you get the stuff for this little tea party?"

"Well Momo kindly volunteered to grab the cups and pot from the kitchen." She pointed to a door at the back of the cafeteria. "As for the tea itself, I happen to have brought it with me."

"Her tea is waaaaay better than the junk in the kitchen." Momoko giggled before downing the rest of her cup. "I dug around through the fridge while I was in there, you wouldn't believe the gruel they had in there!"

"Try me."

"Okay, you see those trays of food over there?" Momoko pointed over to the area in the back of the cafeteria. Since they were sitting rather close, Gen could see what was on them. All the 'food' looked to be piles of mush in various colors. There were green, red, brown, blue, and white ones. "It was basically just more of those. There were also pitchers with drinks in them, with the same colors and everything!"

" _This place seemed rather well off until now."_ Gen sighed. He hoped he would never have to eat any of that junk. "I'm just surprised that you would eat any of that in the first place."

Umeko chimed in after finishing her own tea. "Oh, we didn't. The little miss sleepy head over there tried it for us!"

"It didn't taste like anything… how disappointing." Kanon deciding to eat strange food in an unusual place didn't seem that far fetched to Gen. At least he knew it was safe to eat, if it ever came to that.

"I see…" Gen finished his tea and stood up to leave. "Ladies, it's been a pleasure, but I have to keep moving." Umeko and Momoko gave his happy little waves goodbye while Kanon just sat there, head in the clouds. " _That was fun, but I still have a couple of people I haven't met yet, not to mention the way out still eludes me."_

He had barely taken two steps before his eardrums were assaulted by a loud voice yet again. "Heeeeey~! Geeeeeeen~!" Gen didn't even have to look to know Jun was the one calling for him. "Guess who I fooooooound~!" Ryou seemed to be next to Jun, a small smile on his face. Next to them was another guy, one Gen didn't know yet.

" _Seems like I have to go and say hi again."_ Gen sighed. He walked over to the three men, just wanting to hurry up and be done with introductions.

"It is good to see you again, Gen." Ryou gave him a smile, which Gen returned.

"Likewise Ryou, likewise."

"Heeeeey~! What about me, buster~?" Jun almost gave what looked like a pout, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Yeah sure Jun, good to see you too."

"Yaaaaaay~! I'm sooooooo glad one of my besties is happy to see me~!" Gen sighed. Jun was certainly a handful, but he seems to be rather harmless. "But hey hey, guess what~!"

Another sigh escaped from Gen. "What, Jun?"

"You never told me Ryou would be suuuuuuch a prude~!" Jun made some comedic hand motions toward Ryou, the other man simply giving a small smile. "He isn't telling me aaaaaaaaaaany of his kidnapping secrets~!"

Ryou looked amused with Jun, but only to an extent. He began to speak, giving Jun a stern look. "Jun, unlike you I did not kidnap children for money. I could not even begin to imagine giving advice to someone who enjoys stealing away children for profit."

"But they all had sooooooo much fun~!"

"Regardless," Ryou turned his attention away from Jun and over to Gen. "I take it the two of us were not your primary reason for coming over here?"

Gen nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, I'm just trying to meet everyone here, including the quiet guy behind you two."

Jun gave a hearty chuckle. "You hear that Shiro~?" Yoooooooou're up~!"

The guy, presumably Shiro, looked up as if startled and began to approached Gen. Ryou gave him a reassuring nod and Jun jumped to the side to get out of his way. "H-Hello um… my n-name is Shiro Yasushi, um… I may n-not look it, but I'm the U-Ultimate Judo M-Master… p-pleasure to meet you, I-I suppose.O-Oh, and I k-know who you are. J-Jun told me. " The poor boy looked like his was shaking in his boots, figuratively speaking.

* * *

 **Shiro Yasushi**

 **Ultimate Judo Master**

* * *

Shiro has grayish-blue half-lidded eyes, a small pointy nose, and pale skin. He's a few inches shorter than Gen and is slightly thin and lean. He gave off an aura of fragility, but Gen noticed he looked pretty strong and athletic. He has a messy, neck-length light grayish blue hair with some strands covering his left eye and a curly hair antenna that's sticking out of his head. The way his hair curved around him gave him a sort of heart shape face.

He is wearing a dark grayish violet sailor shirt with a white necktie that has a number "4" on it and a big white jacket over it. He also wears black pants, greyish-blue canvas shoes, a black choker around his neck, and a red belt tied around his upper arm.

" _A judo master huh? He certainly… doesn't seem like one."_ Gen couldn't help but feel that Shiro's talent and his personality didn't match at all, but with how nervous he looked he wasn't about to upset him further. " _I think I'll hold off on commenting about it."_

"Shiro over here is soooooooo strong~! I betcha this fella could chop the table in two with his bare hands~!" Gen wasn't sure if that was supposed to be flattery or just more humor from Jun.

"U-Um I guess I could t-try that, I-I think…" Shiro didn't seem very confident in himself, definitely unsuited to his talent in Gen's eyes.

"Now now Shiro, no need to play along with Jun's antics." Ryou gave a comforting pat on the back to Shiro. For some reason, Shiro suddenly seemed to get really agitated. With lightning fast speed he grabbed ahold of Ryou's arm and threw him onto the ground.

" _Holy shit."_ Gen could only look on in awe. Jun seemed to be laughing hysterically over it while Ryou seemed slightly dazed, brushing himself off before staggering to his feet. Shiro himself looked rather panicked now, clearly distraught over what just happened.

"O-O my gosh! I-I am s-so s-sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Shiro was bowing profusely to Ryou, the latter who was just laughing it off.

"Hey, it is all good. I suppose I now know not to touch you." At any rate, Ryou didn't seem too upset, although he was rubbing his back a little.

"You should have seen yourself Ryou~! Pfffft, you just went CRASH right onta the floor~! Oh my siiiiiiiiiides~!" Jun was still laughing like a maniac at Ryou.

" _Glad to see one of us is enjoying his pain."_

Shiro was still apologizing repeatedly to Ryou, a few tears starting to form in his eyes. "I-I should h-have told you! I-I um, reflexively t-throw people w-who touch me! S-Sorry!"

"Like I said, no worries." Gen had to give it to Ryou, he certainly was the forgiving type. If it were him, Gen would probably be rather angry at Shiro.

" _Probably shouldn't ask if he's a criminal. Don't want him flipping out on me. Literally."_ It was then that Gen gave himself another mental facepalm. He had forgotten to ask the girls at the tea party if they had criminal profiles. " _Damn you delicious tea for making me forget."_

"Anyway," Ryou seemed to be done with that conversation, Shiro sniffling a little and Jun starting to calm down. "Have you met everyone yet Gen? I think you should be rather close by now."

"Hmm, one sec, lemme check." Gen pulled out his MonoPad and looked over the profiles. "Looks like I'm only missing one." He turned it to Ryou so he could get a look.

"Seems like the only one you have not met yet is Chizuru. I believe I saw her walk into the kitchen." Ryou motioned over to the door at the back of the cafeteria. "Just be careful around her, okay?"

Gen was a little confused over that remark. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jun happily chimed in. "It means she's a tooooooooatal hottie~! Like, rawr, amirite~?" Jun had a sort of perverse smile plastered on his face. Shiro was also a little red in the cheeks.

"S-She is s-sorta pretty, I g-guess…"

"Her physical appearances aside…" Even Ryou had a hint of red on his face, though he was trying his best not to show it. "Be careful around her. I am not completely sure, but I can not help but think she is dangerous."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to keep it in mind." Gen made his way over to the kitchen, giving a small wave as he walked away. " _Sounds like she's a real looker. Now I'm curious."_

Stepping into the kitchen, Gen took a moment to look around. It was not a very remarkable room, rather ordinary really. There were cabinets along the walls and above the stove, a large refrigerator was on the left wall along with some counter space. Interestingly enough, there was a sink here as well, the first Gen had seen in his time here. Further down the kitchen looked to be a walk-in freezer. In the center of the kitchen was an island, and with a rather attractive woman sitting on it no less. " _Oh me oh my, damn she's fine."_

The lady is, quite frankly, drop dead gorgeous. By Gen's estimate, she was only two inches shorter than he is. She has a perfectly sculpted body presenting long slim legs, a lean and smooth torso, full hips, delicate looking nimble fingers and a rather large bust. Her skin is pale, perfect and flawless with a healthy glow indicating it's well cared for. Her face is beautifully defined with prominent yet softly carved features such as plump lips that are boasting an alluring smile and glistening with clear gloss, seductively arched eyebrows, feathery long lashes, an elven curved nose, and gorgeous almond shaped eyes that are a striking pale ice blue that gleam like twin jewels. Her hair is very long, going down to her hips in gentle waves of dark red, purple and pink, creating a brilliant hue that seems to glow in the light. Her equally long bangs cover the right side of her face, hiding her eye, giving her a taunting look as she gives her signature sultry smile.

The woman is wearing a long flowing, sleeveless, soft black dress that has a low cut revealing a tasteful, if not a bit bold, portion of chest and cleavage. A slit down the side of the garment allows her leg to be seen, the ends of the long dress barely touching the ground. Over top of that she wears an expensive looking fur trimmed, wine purple coat that's nearly just as long and on her feet she wears a pair of high heeled black stilettos. Her fingers are adorned with several glittering jewel rings and around her neck lays a chain of extravagant diamonds that shape out like a flat, upside down crown across her upper chest. Her ears are also pierced with the same shimmering stones. " _Someone pinch me, I think I must be dreaming."_

"Oh my, what do we have here?" The woman noticed Gen and strided over to him, hips swaying seductively. "Things finally are starting to look up around here. I had almost given up on finding a handsome man." Her voice was sweet as honey, Gen could feel himself becoming infatuated.

"I'm sure you say that to all the guys, huh?" Gen had to keep calm, he didn't want to give her the upper hand. " _Just keeping thinking with this head Gen, she probably isn't as great as she looks."_

"Oh _heavens_ no." The beauty leaned forward towards Gen, getting right in his personal space, her assets mere inches away from him. "The kidnappers are out, one's a child and the other a stick in the mud." She leaned ever closer. "The flirt looks and acts like a creep, the judo kid has no spine." She was even closer now. "And the other two are just plain angry and unpleasant. Much too pent up for my tastes." She was now practically touching him, her breath warmly caressing Gen's neck. "So that leaves you, _handsome_ , as my only man left."

Gen's face was red as a tomato at this point. He had to take a few steps back and collect his thoughts. " _She's good at this. Ryou was right, if I'm not careful she could have me under her thumb in no time."_

"Come now handsome," She crossed her arms under her chest, exaggerating it further. "Might I be so _bold_ as to ask for your name? Surely you aren't opposed to that?"

" _I suppose I should do that, makes it easier for both of us."_ After giving himself a mental fistbump for finally being done with introductions he introduced himself for the last time. "I'm Gen Imamura, the Ultimate Racer."

"Gen is it?" She gave a sort of charming grin to him, trying to enamor him with her strong presence. "I think I'll stick with 'handsome'. You don't mind right?"

"Well I-"

"Delightful!" She didn't give him a chance to object. Gen sighed, figuring it wouldn't be worth the hassle to correct her. "But where are my manner? I am Chizuru Uzumaki, the Ultimate Jewel Thief. It's _very_ much a pleasure to meet you."

* * *

 **Chizuru Uzumaki**

 **Ultimate Jewel Thief**

* * *

" _A thief huh? I can sorta see it, but damn, her talent is also her crime? Who the hell decides on these 'Ultimate' abilities anyway?"_ Gen could only do what he does best, that being sighing. "So you-"

 ***BING* *BONG* *DING* DONG***

" _What was that?"_ Both Gen and Chizuru looked around, confused at the strange sound they just heard.

"Ahem," There was a high pitched, almost cartoonish voice coming from somewhere. Gen tried to look around for any speakers, but he could not find any. "Mic test, mic test, one and two and one and two!"

"Whoever is speaking should have practiced beforehand, not during their announcement." Gen simply nodded with Chizuru's comment.

"Attention all inmates! This is an announcement from your warden! All inmates are to immediately report to the courtyard! Failure to comply will be considered insubordination, and will be punished accordingly!"

"Punished!?" Gen did not like the sounds of that.

"For those wondering, the courtyard is behind the large doors at the end of the main hallway. I have unlocked it, so hurry your asses on over!" With a static like sound, the voice abruptly shut off.

"Interesting," Chizuru gave what almost sounded like a purr before heading to the door, grabbing Gen by the wrist as she walked by, embarrassing him greatly.

"H-Hey! What're you doing?" His protest fell on deaf ears, he was now walking behind her trying to keep up as her grip remained strong.

"The voice said we'd be punished if we didn't show, right? I'm just looking out for you, honest."

" _Damn succubus!"_

* * *

 **AN: And here it is, the long awaited final set of introductions! The next chapter might end up a little shorter, so hopefully it'll come out sooner than three weeks, which seems to be my average time. I'll try to shoot for faster updates, but I won't sacrifice quality for speed, so no promises.**

 **Now that everyone has been introduced, it's time to decide on FTEs! I have a poll up on my profile, go ahead and vote for who you'd like to see. There will be five FTEs per chapter, so you can vote for five people. Since the next chapter is the final bit of the prologue and the chapter after is mostly going to be plot, it will be awhile before we see these. I just figured I'd post it now anyway, just in case.**

 **Also, as previously mentioned, I might take a few creative liberties with some of the characters. I promise nothing major will be changed, but a few small things here and there might not match exactly with what was sent in.**

 **Also also, starting from the next chapter on, I'm going to be replying to reviewers at the start of the chapter. I wanted to wait until everyone was introduced before doing so. No real reason, just figured it would provide more substantial replies.**

 **Hope you are all enjoying so far, please leave a review if you have any comments, questions, or concerns. Peace out.**


	5. Prologue IV

**AN: It's time for the review reply corner! Yay! Thank you to everyone for showing support for this story and having the patience to deal with my update times!**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: I'm glad to see you like how I've done Koharu. As soon as I saw her personality I knew that she and Gen would get along just fine! Nice to see you like the others as well! I agree with the FTE poll being hard, I always need to think before voting in them. But hey, at least you'll have another chance to vote for most of them again.**

 **Shyjoker: Gen having fun at Aruna's expense is something I can see happening more in the future, what with how she is and all. Gotta find entertainment somehow.**

 **TheRoseShadow21: The layout of this compound is definitely strange, but I think it's a good thing personally. Shake things up a tad. Zany is honestly the perfect way to describe this hodgepodge of Ultimates. Aruna the foreigner, Jun the laughing machine, and Kanon the airhead to name a few. I promise more entertaining interactions in the future.**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: Yoko, Chizuru, and Koharu are your favorites huh? Well I easily see why, they are certainly a blast to write, so I'm glad you had a blast reading them. As for how Gen will handle things, well this chapter might help with that!**

 **aWasTooShort: Weirdos and assholes? A very apt way to describe the lot of them, couldn't agree more. And that's why I love them so much! As for Gen, he certainly is different from the normal protagonists. When designing him my goal was to make someone who didn't act or look like a protagonist, and I hope I've done a good job with that!**

* * *

Gen was dragged by the wrist through the empty cafeteria and hallway by Chizuru, his complaints falling on deaf ears the entire time. Eventually they reached the large doors in the large hall, now left open from whoever entered before them. Once they were inside, Chizuru released Gen from her grasp. On the other side was a large empty courtyard, perfectly square in shape. There were two doors on both the left and right walls, as well as one straight across from them with a large monitor above it. The walls were high, easily at least fifty feet, with the ceiling being one giant light. The ground was dirt, but some metal was visible underneath in certain parts.

"Well, we're here, but now what? Where's the so called 'warden' around here?" Gen was looking around, only able to spot the others he had met earlier, no new faces in sight.

Hayashi was also rather unamused by the warden's tardiness. "Fucker better not be making us wait for no damn reason or I swear I'm going to beat the shit outta him."

"Calm your tits tough guy, let's just give the bastard a minute or two before we do that." Koharu didn't look like she was entirely against the idea.

"P-Perhaps we could um, not resort to v-violence, m-maybe?" Shiro was looking rather uncomfortable with their discussion.

"Agreed, it is for the best if we listen to what our supposed warden has to say." Ryou nodded twice to himself in affirmation.

"Glad to see one of you morons has common sense." Botan was looking as grumpy as ever, standing noticeably farther away from everyone else.

"Excusing Aruna, but remarks rude like that not-" Aruna was suddenly cut off, a loud static noise permeating the air. Gen instinctually covered his ears, the sound rattling his skull.

"Kept you waiting, didn't I?" The static ceased and the monitor above the far door began to crackle to life. "Well too bad, I do things on my own time!" On the monitor was now an image of what looked like a teddy bear, a rather unsettling one at that. Half of it was white and the other half black, with a red eye almost like a lightning bolt.

"What is that supposed to be?" Akuma was looking confused, as were most of the others in the courtyard.

"How rude! Is that how you bastards are going to treat your warden? Show some respect why dontcha!" The image on the monitor glowed a faint red before going back to normal.

"Whaaaaaaat~? Our warden is a TV~? That's sooooooo lame~!"

"No you imbecile! I am NOT a TV! I am a BEAR! A BEAR! B-E-A-R! Do you understand that!?" The monitor was pulsating red lights again.

"A bear huh?" Masuyo excitedly ran closer to the monitor as if trying to get a better look. "But I thought you said you were our warden?"

"And why can't I be both!? Kids these days, thinking they know everything!" A strange high pitched laugh echoed across the room, rather eerie, Gen thought.

"Cut the crap and get over here already." Botan was not amused by the voice from the screen, irritation showing plainly. "Stop hiding behind the screen and show yourself."

"Tell me, does it hurt when you walk?"

"What?" The screen laughed mockingly at Botan.

"You know, with that stick so far up your ass." Jun was chuckling a little, but quickly shut up when Botan gave him a death glare. "Guys like you need to chill out, take it easy once in awhile."

"Quit fucking around and get out here you piece of shit!" Hayashi looked like he was about to pop a vein, not that Gen would have minded.

"Didn't I just say to take it easy? Are you deaf or something?" The voice on the monitor gave another eerie laugh. "As much as I would like to, I can't. So there, take that musclehead."

"You can't? What's that supposed to mean?" Gen was starting to get fed up with the 'warden', his high pitched voice was certainly not helping.

"Quit getting ahead of yourself eyesore, I haven't even formally introduced myself yet." The voice made a sound as if it were clearing its throat. "Listen up inmates! I am Monokuma! Your delightfully adorable warden!"

"There's nothing adorable about you…" Hanami was muttering to herself, though it would seem Monokuma didn't catch it, or care.

"You said you are our warden, correct? Are we to take it that this is a prison then?" Umeko brought up a good point, the bear's terminology would seem to indicate that.

"No no no no no no a thousand times no! Who said anything about a prison? By calling it a 'prison' you are giving it such a negative image. This here is the Ultimate Correctional Facility! Don't mistake it for some run of the mill prison!"

"You are aware that 'correctional facility' is simply another way of saying 'prison', yes?" Chizuru gave voice to Gen's thoughts, they really were the same thing.

"There's a huge difference you hussy!" The monitor glowed red again before stopping. Gen was starting to notice that this seemed to be it's way of expressing anger. "I mean, have any of you ever been in a prison as luxurious as the Ultimate Correctional Facility? I would bet you haven't!"

"...The food wasn't very luxurious…" It would seem Kanon was still upset over the poor quality of the mush in the cafeteria.

"Well geez, excuse me for running the budget elsewhere. Would it kill you to show some gratitude? It was a lot of work setting this whole thing up you know?"

Botan took the opportunity to ask a pressing question. "Why did you set this up anyway? Why are we here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Why else do people go to a correctional facility?" The same high pitched laughter rang out again, still annoying. "To correct you of course!"

Looks of confusion were exchanged between the assembled Ultimates, none of them quite sure what the bear was getting at. Momoko was the first to speak up. "But I was already in jail, why would I need to go to jail again?"

"Why? Why do you need to be here? I just said it! To correct you!"

"Yo bear, quit being a dumbass and explain what you mean to us already." Gen gave Koharu a mental high five, he also wanted a better reason.

"Wow, I guess your time in the klink has really dumbed the lot of you down, huh?" A sort of sighing noise came from the monitor. "Alright, I'll spell it out for you, so listen closely! You were all, for one reason or another, in jail before coming here. Regular, plain old boring jail. You are also all incredibly gifted individuals with exceptional talent."

"Indeed, we are all like glistening diamonds, some better cut than others, who shine brilliantly against the gray background of society!" Yoko seemed to add that bit in the middle to spite him and Koharu, but he figured he'd let it go.

"Don't interrupt me, okay? This is very important stuff! Anyways, it makes sense that exceptional individuals should spend their hard time in an exceptional place right? So thus the Ultimate Correctional Facility was built just for you guys!"

"S-So um, are we just serving out our s-sentences here then? I-I guess i-it's better than where I-I was before this" Shiro brought up a good point. Gen's previous prison was about ten times worse than this correctional facility. There is way more freedom to move here, not to mention it being mixed genders.

"See, if I did that it would be rather boring, dontcha think?"

" _Boring?"_

"That's why I've decided to make a little game out of this ordeal, to spice things up a bit!"

Jun was bouncing excitedly as soon as he mentioned games. "Games~?! I loooooooove games~! What kinda game are we talking about~?!"

The eerie laughter came from the monitor again, this time more joyous sounding than before. "Why, only the best sort of game there is!" There was a pregnant pause, everyone waiting anxiously for what he had to say. "A killing game of course!"

Silence.

There was dead silence in the room.

" _A killing game? What does-"_

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean, you annoying shit!? Didn't I tell you to stop fucking around!?" Hayashi was looking absolutely livid, his face red all over. "Come down here and let me fucking beat the shit out of you already!"

"I said I can't do that already, geez it's like you're not even listening to me."

"Who cares about that? What do you mean, 'killing game'? That isn't even a thing!" Akuma was starting to look a little panicked, as were a few others.

"Why, I'm so glad you asked, lover boy!" There was the laughter again, though this time Gen ignored it. "Basically, if one of you cons kills another inmate and gets away with it, I will allow you to leave this place and re-enter society again!"

" _Kill!?"_

"Beat them to death, poison them, stab them, drown them, burn them, I don't care how you do it! Just make sure you don't get caught, or none of it matters!"

"Aruna does not think-"

"You don't think any of you guys will kill? Fat chance of that!" The monitor paused for a moment, as if trying to let the words sink in. "After all, a few of you are already killers! It's not _that_ hard to imagine any of them might strike again!"

" _Wait, a few of the others have killed before?"_ Suspicious glares were exchanged between the gathered Ultimates. Gen did a mental recap of what he knew about each inmate's history with crime.

Ryou and Jun were kidnappers.

Kanon and Chizuru were thieves.

Hanami was a hacker.

Aruna was an illegal immigrant.

Koharu made forgeries.

Akuma, Yoko, Hayashi, Masuyo, Botan, Umeko, Momoko, and Shiro were unknown.

" _Since I don't know what they did, are some of them killers? Or are some of the others lying to me?"_

"But I am a strict bear, and this killing game is going to have a few rules that I'm gonna need you all to abide by. It's basic procedure really, just take a look at your MonoPads, I've already taken the liberty of adding them to it!"

"Rules? What makes you think I'm gonna listen to your rules you crazy bastard!?" Gen was honestly quite done with Monokuma's antics, he himself was getting on board with the idea of beating him up.

"Well gee, I dunno, maybe because I'll punish you otherwise? Puhuhu… might do ya some good to look them over before making such statements you simpleton."

Gen took out his MonoPad, grumbling the whole while, and opened it up. In addition to the profiles from earlier, there was now another section available, this one labeled as 'Rules'. Giving it a tap displayed a list of rules that it would seem he was expected to abide by.

Rule 1: Morning starts at 6AM and nighttime starts at 8PM. Some doors are locked during nighttime and going through these doors is considered a violation of the rules and will result in punishment. This restriction will be lifted at morning.

Rule 2: Inmates are not allowed to leave the Ultimate Correctional Facility. Doing so will result in immediate punishment.

Rule 3: Inmates are free to wander the Ultimate Correctional Facility at their own discretion with minimal restrictions.

Rule 4: Violence against the warden, Monokuma, is strictly prohibited and will result in punishment.

Rule 5: The warden, Monokuma, will not directly harm any inmates unless they have violated a rule.

Rule 6: Any inmate who kills another inmate will become 'Blackened' and will become eligible for a pardon.

Rule 7: After a certain amount of time has passed after a corpse has been discovered, a trial will commence. Participation is mandatory and failure to comply will result in instantaneous punishment.

Rule 8: If during a trial the 'Blackened' is discovered they will be punished. If the 'Blackened' is not discovered, they will be pardoned and free to leave, while everyone else will be punished instead.

Rule 9: Inmates may kill only up to two other inmates. Immediate punishment awaits those who break this rule.

Rule 10: The warden, Monokuma, reserves the right to alter these rules or add more as he sees fit.

Everyone looked over the rules, varying expressions of fear and agitation spread across their faces. "Excuse me," Ryou spoke up after he had finished reading. "Would you please go into more detail about these last rules? Specifically about being 'Blackened' and the trials, as well as what these punishments would be?"

"Puhuhu… I _could_ do that, or I could wait until we get that far to go into detail. I think I'll do that instead, seems like it would be more entertaining for me."

"Hardly seems fair that you will not explain rules until they are relevant, is it not?" Ryou crossed his arms in disappointment towards the bear on the screen.

"Fair? I ain't anything except fair!" The creepy laughter continued again.

"How do we even know we can believe you? I see no reason to trust someone who won't even show their face." Chizuru brought up a good point, it was hard to verify anything they heard as being credible.

"Oh believe me sweet cheeks, you don't wanna test if it's the truth or not. Things could get very… messy, to put it nicely." The screen glowed red again while the laughter boomed out again. "And why are all of you so hung up on meeting me anyway? Isn't seeing me on screen good enough for you? Or are you all just so smitten with me that you need to cuddle me nice and close?"

"... Why aren't you showing yourself…? Seems weird that you aren't…" Unlike when Gen asked earlier, it seems Monokuma was actually going to respond to Kanon's question.

"There were unforeseen circumstances, okay? I want to be there with you all, I really do, but sometimes we can't always get what we want. So tough luck, this is all you get!"

"That is hardly an explanation, couldn't you please give us a little more than that?" Akuma wasn't the only one unsatisfied with that answer, a few of the other voiced similar concerns.

"Enough about me! This is all about you guys, I'm just here to fill a supporting role more or less. I don't got anything else to say to you lot, so quit your yapping and start killing! Puhuhuhu… Puhuhuhuhu… AHAHAHAHA!" With one last laughing fit the monitor turned itself off, and the Ultimates were left in an uneasy silence.

For awhile nobody dared make a move, everyone was rooted to the ground with unease and suspicion. Eventually Umeko had backed herself away from the others, giving everyone else glances of distrust. Shiro was quailing in a corner of his own, Momoko pestering him about something, but Gen wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Botan and Ryou looked deep in thought, and Yoko and Masuyo were doing much the same, albeit with a little more motion. Hanami looked absolutely terrified, the poor girl look like she was going to collapse with fright. Gen wanted to give her a reassuring hug, but held off because that might be a little creepy.

Out of everyone, Aruna had the most out of place reaction. "So it is game about killing? Aruna does not think Aruna will be good at this, But Aruna will try bestest to make entertaining!"

Looks of disbelief were apparent on everyone's faces, with Yoko prancing up to her with a look of disgust. "So you are to participate in this killing game? Willingly being the Brutus to our collective Julius? I had thought of you poorly, but not even I imagined you would behave in such a manner!"

Aruna looked confused, as if she didn't get why everyone was upset with her. "But this just game, yes? Japanese show for joy, no real harm. Aruna just want to have fun with new friends on strange Japan show."

Masuyo was thankfully going to set her straight on the matter. "Uh, listen, Aruna? I don't think this is a show, someone actually wants us to kill each other for no reason. Please take this a bit more seriously, okay?"

"Ah! Aruna gets it now!" Masuyo look pleased that Aruna got what she was saying, but quickly frowned when Aruna opened her mouth again. "Aruna not supposed to break character! Aruna sorry! Aruna will treat show like real, so please forgive Aruna!"

"Aruna that's not what I-" Masuyo was cut off by Botan, a look of sheer hatred on his face.

"How are you _that_ ignorant? This is a matter of life and death and you are treating it like a mere game? Crawl back to whatever backwoods hovel you crawled out of, we don't need that attitude around here." Before anyone could scold him for his harsh words, Botan left the courtyard in a rage. While everyone was looking at him, Shiro took the opportunity to escape from Momoko, scurrying away without a word to anyone.

"Ah, Aruna make things awkward for friends. Aruna will be more careful now on."

"Pfft, you'd better be careful." It seems Hayashi wanted to give his own two cents on the matter. "Keep acting like that and someone will shoot you so fucking dead so quick. Nobody likes a bitch with all her screws loose."

"H-hey now, let's not do anything rash, m'kaaaay~?" Jun was trying to be a peace keeper, but he was still visible shaken by the whole thing. "Let's all be a little happier, alright~? Smiles are waaaaay better than those ugly looks you're all wearing~!"

"Smile?" Umeko looked at Jun with a strange mixture of disgust and worry. "Sorry, but in a time like this, playing it safe is the best bet." She walked over to the courtyard entrance, not even turning back to face the group as she talked. "I'm going to be in my room. Please don't come near me, it's hard to trust any of you right now." She left with hurried steps.

"Glad to see someone gets how it is now." Hayashi also made his way out of the courtyard, spitting at Gen as he walked by. Gen would have retaliated, but now was not the time for it.

"Why is everyone getting so anxious? It's entirely possible that nothing bad will happen." Masuyo was trying to assure herself just as much as everyone else. "We may get through this without a scratch."

"Hey, could you not be so wishy washy please?" Momoko walked up to Masuyo, arrogance coming off her in waves. "Do you think we will or not? 'Maybe' and 'Possibly' aren't good enough, it will either happen or it won't. Pick one."

"What?" Masuyo seemed surprised that the sweet looking girl in front of her was being so confrontational. "What's wrong with anticipating either outcome?"

"Because it makes you look like an indecisive fool. So I'll ask again: will we or will we not all get out of this alive?"

"Do you look at everything in black and white? Is there no gray in your world?" Masuyo was looking a little upset with the smaller girl.

"Of course not, that is pointless." Momoko gave a huff before making for the exit. "It's clear to me you can't keep an engaging conversation. A pity."

"Wait! We aren't done here!" Masuyo chased after Momoko, the remaining people unsure of what to comment on the matter.

"...I think I'll be heading out as well. The atmosphere here is getting quite… oppressive for my tastes." Akuma also went to leave. "I'll see you guys later… okay?" He was seemed unsure on if he wanted to meet them again or not, but he left anyway.

Kanon also made to leave, not speaking until she was stopped by Koharu. "Hey, why you leaving us too?"

"...I unno, I think I need to do something, or something..." She walked right past Koharu, an empty expression without emotion being all that she showed.

"Bitch seems liable to hurt herself out there, I'm gonna make sure she doesn't walk into a wall or some stupid shit." Gen gave Koharu a nod of approval before she also left to look after Kanon. The girl did seem like the type to do something stupid on accident.

"I shall also be taking my leave _handsome_." Chizuru had walked close to Gen, almost pushing up against him. "Care to join me for a stroll around? I'm sure we could find a way to make it… _interesting_."

"Ah, no. I think I'm good for now, thanks." Gen knew that being alone with her would only invite trouble.

"Aww, that's too bad. I was hoping for someone to keep me company. A girl could get _awfully_ lonely out there by herself." She made her way to the door, hips swaying seductively. "Is there no one who would help me?"

"Oh~! Me~! Me~! Pick meeeeeee~!" Jun was jumping up and down eagerly at the idea of having alone time with Chizuru. She gave him a chuckle and a wink.

"But _of course_ you can tag along, how could I refuse a _cutie_ like you?" Jun let out a high pitched cheer and excitedly went over to her as if he were a puppy to his owner. The two of them left the courtyard together, quieting it down a good bit.

"It is time for me to exit stage left as well." Yoko made for the door, somewhat dejected and sullen looking. "Do not think less of me for it, I just require some time alone to think this over."

After she left Aruna also began to leave. "Aruna sees, everyone needs to think how to murdering friends. Everyone try so hard, Aruna must do same!" Gen didn't even bother trying to correct her as she left, totally oblivious to the situation around them.

" _She'll figure it out sooner or later, hopefully."_ Gen sighed and looked around the now almost deserted courtyard. He could see Hanami sitting on the ground hugging her knees close to her and staring off into space, clearly distraught with everything going on. He looked around some more but could not see anyone else. " _That's odd, when did Ryou leave? I thought for sure he'd still be here…"_ Gen sighed again. It was just him and Hanami in the courtyard now. " _Well this is awkward. I can't just leave her alone like this, who knows what could happen?"_

After a small internal debate, Gen walked over to Hanami and kneeled down to be at her level. "Hey, Hanami? You okay?"

Gen was worried she didn't hear him as she didn't respond until a few seconds had passed. "No."

"Haha, yeah, I guess none of us really are." Gen offered her a hand up in a show of goodwill. "Sitting in the dirt prolly ain't gonna help you, how about you go back to your room and sit on the comfy bed?"

Hanami hesitated for a few moments before accepting his hand. Gen pulled her off the ground and she brushed herself off. "Okay…." She slowly made for the door, steps still shaky. When she left Gen let out a sigh he had been holding in. He was surprised it was that easy to get her to go.

" _I should probably make sure she makes it to her room okay."_ Gen followed behind her at a distance, walking down the wide hall back into the corridor where he had initially woke up in. When he saw Hanami enter one of the rooms safely he did the same to his room. Or he would have, if it wasn't locked. " _What's up with this?"_ He jiggled the handle a few more times before giving up. " _What the hell…"_

It was then that he noticed the card reader next to the door. " _I forgot about that thing…"_ Gen sighed. It seemed Hanami got into her room just fine, so why couldn't he? It was then that he heard a small buzzing noise coming from his MonoPad. Curious, he took it out and a message appeared on it.

" _Hey dumbass, the MonoPad is your key. Everyone else figured it out, but you seemed a little lost, so I figured I'd help you!"_

" _So the stupid warden is still watching huh?"_ Gen slide his MonoPad down the card reader and heard a clicking noise. He gave the handle a twist and sure enough, it was unlocked. " _So we need our MonoPads to get into our rooms? Better keep that in mind."_ He entered the room and shut the door before collapsing onto his bed, the weight of the day finally catching up with him. " _What a hot mess this is."_ The idea of having to kill someone to get out did not sit well with Gen, not to mention that supposedly there were killers walking around already. The group was already distrustful of each other, who knows if someone will be desperate enough to play along with the killing game.

" _One thing's for sure, this is going to end poorly"_

* * *

 **AN: And that my good friends, is the end of the prologue! From here on, things are going to get a heck of a lot more wilder! Well some of the time anyway.**

 **If you haven't already, vote for who you want to see in the free time on my profile, I'll be closing the voting after next chapter is posted.**

 **Nothing much else to say, just leave a review with any comments, questions, or concerns you may have. I'll see you all next time!**


	6. Chapter 1 I

**AN: Time once again for the review replies! Thank you for all your continued support for this story, it really means a lot! Gotta say, some of you are very detailed, so apologies if I don't hit everything in your reviews. If something is mentioned by multiple people I might only address it once. I don't want to take up too much space with authors notes after all.**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: Some of them sure handled it in strange ways, huh? It sure is going to heat up, if the prologue was the spiciest the story ever got, I think I'd have failed pretty hard!**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: Poorly is definitely an understatement. Momoko and Masuyo, as soon as I saw both of them, I knew they would be perfect for each other. Well, perfect in the sense that they will probably go head to head more than a few times. As for why Monokuma is not there, well that may or may not come up later.**

 **DryBonesKing: Hah, you're all good man. You're reading now, and that's what counts! I'm glad I'm doing Masuyo right, and I figured she and Gen would get along fine! Everyone seems so shocked about how Aruna is handling this, I love it so much.**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: Yeah, the group is not very together right now, who knows what could happen as a result. You have so many theories, but I can't confirm nor deny any of them, mwahaha. Interesting to see what you think though!**

 **mayurie: Glad to see I'm doing Kanon well! Not sure if you can tell, but she is really fun to write. Let's hope none of the students actually harm Monokuma, that rule is still in place you know!**

 **LivelyRoses: Glad to see Botan is being portrayed well. Who knows what crazy things are in his future? Nice to see that a few of the others have caught your eye!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: The nighttime, and daytime too actually, starting earlier is due to the somewhat prison-esque setting the characters are in. It is mostly just flavor, but I'm glad someone noticed it.**

 **Liammarklh88: We cool man, you don't gotta leave a reply every time, I ain't gonna hold it against anyone. Nice to see someone has started on the shipping! The gender ratio did bother me at first too actually. In the end I decided to go with that route because I figured this set of character would make for the most interesting and diverse group.**

 **Now, without any further ado, Chapter 1!**

* * *

You seem like you have something you would like to say about all of this. I would advise against it, we wouldn't want anything regrettable to be uttered, would we?

I'm glad we could reach an understanding. Now chin up a little, the show is just starting after all. Things should get plenty interesting, so look forward to it, m'kay?

There is much work to be done, and not much time to do it. Get out there and do your best, I'll be rooting for you every step of the way.

You don't believe me? Come now, give me some credit. We may have our differences, but I do need you.

Just like how you need me.

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 **FROSTY SERVINGS AND EVEN COOLER FEELINGS**

* * *

 ***BING* *BONG* *DING* *DONG***

"Ahem, it is now 6AM. Good little inmates should always get up bright and early to face the day! You know what they say, the early bird kills the worms!"

Gen grumbled as he woke up from the annoying announcement. He did not sleep well at all last night, he awoke several times and was still tired. " _Damn bear wants us up this time every day? Slave driver."_ He slowly got himself prepared for the day before leaving his room. " _Wonder how everyone else is holding up? Can't be that well I'd imagine."_ He immediately thought of Hanami and hoped she was doing better. Shiro and Umeko seemed very on edge as well and could probably do with some reassurance. " _Can't forget good old Aruna. Maybe she'll figure it out today."_ Gen sighed. That girl may just be naive or something, but hearing her act that way probably made the others a little irked with her.

Gen absentmindedly made his way over to the cafeteria. On the way over he did not run into anyone or really think much at all. The weight of the situation paired with early morning grogginess made for poor brain functioning. " _Is anyone else even going to be here this early?"_ Gen sighed and opened the nearest door to the cafeteria anyway. He was hungry, and according to Kanon the food here was edible, even if only barely.

The cafeteria was almost completely empty, as to be expected. There was only one seat taken, it's owner choking down the mush that was to be their sustenance for the foreseeable future. Gen figured he may as well plop down across from them. "Mornin' Ryou. Fancy seeing you here this early."

"I could say the same to you. I had not pegged you to be a morning person." Ryou put another bit of mushy goop in his mouth reluctantly, clearly he was not enjoying it.

"I'm not, I just assumed everyone else would want to eat as soon as they could. I'm starving and sleepy." As if to exaggerate the point, while he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes his stomach grumbled fiercely.

"Well this might not be what you wanted to hear, but the food really is as bland as you have heard it to be." He slid his tray so it was in front of Gen. "I had grabbed a fairly large portion, but it seems that whatever this is is surprisingly filling. I have already satisfied my hunger with just the little bit that I have had. Please help yourself."

"Shit, as long as it ain't poison, I think I can take it." Gen grabbed a handful of the red food in front of him. He gave it a sniff and a lick, but that really didn't tell him anything about it. "Bottoms up, I guess." Immediately he could see why Ryou had trouble eating it. To describe it plainly, the food had a feel similar to already chewed gum, and it was about as flavorless. Gen foolishly put a lot in his mouth, so he was stuck trying to eat it for what felt like several minutes. Eventually he got it down, the garbage settling in his stomach. It felt weird, but he sure wasn't hungry anymore.

"You… did not need to eat all of it you know." Ryou gave a pity smile to Gen who was still struggling to get over the pathetic excuse for food he had just eaten.

"And I wish I hadn't." Gen look around the table hoping that Ryou had brought one of the pitchers of colored liquid from the fridge. "Didn't take one of the drinks?"

"I thought about it, but I do not remember if Kanon had mentioned trying them yet. I would rather not consume an unknown beverage if at all possible." Gen had to laugh at that to himself. It would seem Kanon was the guinea pig of the group when it came to testing unknown consumables.

"I was also kinda hoping she tried them, I'm sure as hell not gonna be the first one to do it." Gen sighed, very thirsty and still tired. "Sure do need _something_ to drink at least."

"I as well. If memory serves me right, there should be a sink in the kitchen. While the water itself could also be bad, I would sooner trust the tap than an unknown liquid."

"Tap water? Sign me up." The two men got out of their seats, Ryou picking up the tray and returning it to the counter before following Gen into the kitchen. After digging around in a few of the cupboards Gen finally found two glasses and filled them both with water, handing one to Ryou. "If this is poison at least the rest of them will have something to laugh over."

"When you say things like that it makes me not want to drink it." Gen chuckled a bit at Ryou's remark before the two of them sipped the water out of their cups. It seemed fine, so they drank all of it, Gen even filling his cup a second time. "At least it seems we will not die of dehydration any time soon. That is a small comfort."

"Heh, yeah it seems that way." Gen took a moment to contemplate the whole matter. He found it hard to image anyone here, save a few individuals, actually killing anyone. He hasn't known them for very long, but most of them do seem like good people. Well, half of them anyway. "Say Ryou, what do you think about all of this? You think anyone's gonna kill to get out?"

Ryou only had to think for a moment before answering. "As much as I hate to say it, it is not entirely out of the question." He crossed his arms and leaned against the center island of the kitchen, a frown forming on his face. "We are all a bunch of criminals who barely know each other. If the warden is to be believed, some of them are even murderers already. It is imperative that we keep one eye open for suspicious behavior among our fellow inmates, we cannot afford to be killing one another."

"Yeah, I would hate for help to arrive only to find us in a bloody pile on the floor." Gen let out a long and drawn out sigh, another thought popping into his head. "Hey, do you happen to know what everyone was arrested for? I managed to only get that out of half of them."

"Unfortunately only a handful are known to me. There was not a good time to ask for most of them." Ryou seemed to be hit with a flash of realization, standing himself straight and walking to the door. "Perhaps it would be for the best if everyone were to disclose their criminal records. It could serve to build trust, which is something in short supply around here."

Gen had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea to put it all in the open like that. "Do you think everyone will be up for it though? I can easily think of two people at least who might not be all for it."

"It does not have to be everyone. While that would be preferable, it is more important not to instigate any hostile feelings among our ranks. If that means leaving them out of the discussion about our pasts, then so be it." Ryou didn't seem too bothered by the prospect of certain individuals making a stink of things.

"Well, I suppose that's good enough for me. We should mention this to the others and find a good time to talk about it." Gen also made his way to the kitchen door.

"Agreed. I shall ask around later." The two of them exited the kitchen to find the cafeteria still as empty as it was when they were in it last. "It would seem nobody else wishes to join us for breakfast. A shame, but nothing for it."

"They're either still asleep or just don't wanna talk to anyone. Can't really say I'm surprised." Had Gen known that no one else was going to be here he would have slept in a bit more himself. "Well I think I'm going to look around the place a bit more. Who knows, might of missed something yesterday."

"Very well." Ryou gave Gen a wave of approval as he walked away from the cafeteria. "I shall stay here for an hour or two in case anyone decides to show up to eat. Good luck on your endeavor Gen."

"Thanks. I'll see you around." Gen waved goodbye to Ryou as he left. " _Ryou seems like a genuinely good guy. He's one of the few here I think I can trust. More than some of the others at least."_ Gen walked down the halls, no particular destination in mind. His feet ended up carrying him to the lounge where he first met Jun and Aruna. " _Might as well go somewhere at least a bit comfortable."_

Laying down on the couch was Koharu, seeming to be drawing something on a notepad. Akuma was also sitting in one of the chairs reading one of the magazines from the rack. He noticed Gen and gave a wave. "Good to see you Gen. Care to join us in lazing about?

"Ain't got nothing better to do I guess." Gen took the seat opposite of Akuma and made himself at home. "How are you guys doing?"

"I for one feel a little better after getting some sleep, but this whole ordeal is quite stressful to say the least." Akuma put down his magazine, a scientific one it looked like, and shifted himself over in his chair. "The two of us were thinking about how to increase camaraderie among our ranks. The general mood is a bit sour."

"Sour is putting it lightly. Some of these fuckers are already at each other's throats." Koharu didn't look up from what she was sketching. "I ran into some of them earlier. Hayashi and Botan really don't seem to give two shits about anyone else. Umeko ran away as soon as she saw me, and Masuyo and Momo seem to be out for blood, for one another anyway."

" _Seems their argument escalated while we weren't looking."_ Gen sighed. Those two having beef with each other certainly wasn't going to help things. "You guys meet anyone else today?"

"Ah, I saw our foreign beauty in the storage room some time ago. Poor lass still thinks of all this as a show, bless her innocent heart." Akuma swooned over Aruna more than Gen would have cared for, but the information was useful nonetheless.

"Right… Anyway, you guys were thinking of how to boost morale? Any ideas?" Thankfully these two seemed to be of a similar mindset to him and Ryou. They also didn't want anyone here to die.

"Well I thought I had a good idea, but sir fucks a lot over here shot it down like it was the dumbest thing ever." Koharu squeezed her pencil tighter than she had been, seems Akuma made her a little mad.

Even if Akuma rejected it, Gen was still curious as to what it was. "I'd like to hear it anyway. We need all the suggestions we can get."

"Kay. I was thinking we could all share what got us arrested, you know, to trust each other more or some shit. I thought it was bitchin but nooooo, apparently it's a bad idea."

Gen was actually a little surprised that Koharu and Ryou thought of the same idea, more surprised though at how Akuma disagreed with it. "That _is_ a bitchin idea Koharu, me and Ryou were talking about getting everyone together to do that later." Gen turned over to Akuma who was now frowning. "Why are you opposed to it Aku?"

"Well… I just don't want to share my crime, okay?" Akuma stood up and made his way for the exit. "Sorry, but it's a bit hard to talk about."

"I see." Gen didn't want to pry too much. As Ryou said earlier, it was better not to force anyone into it. "Where are you going by the way?"

A rumbling stomach from Akuma was a dead giveaway to his intentions. "I haven't eaten yet, so I was going to swing by the cafeteria."

"Kay. Ryou should still be there to keep you company." Gen waved goodbye to Akuma as he left. He was now alone in the lounge with Koharu. "What're you drawing anyway?"

"Plop your ass down over here and take a look." Koharu sat up on the couch and motioned for Gen to sit next to her. He got up from his chair and sat down by her, her drawing now easy to see. It seemed like she was drawing a group portrait of all of them. "Pretty damn good right? Everyone here looks so interesting together I thought it just had to make for a good piece. Boy was I fucking right!"

"Damn straight you were." Gen was amazed. Even though it was still only a sketch, it was plain to see the talent that Koharu possesed. Everyone looked so life like and had perfect proportions. Gen could never draw at this level even if he practiced for years. "I can see why you are an Ultimate. This is good stuff."

"Heh, if you think a measly sketch like this is awesome, just wait till you see some of my finished works. They'll knock your fucking socks off I tell ya!" Koharu seemed to lavish the praise being thrown her way, a gleeful smile finding itself plastered onto her face.

"I look forward to it with great anticipation." Gen couldn't help but feel happy as well. Despite the depressing environment they were in the two found themselves enjoying each other's company. Koharu went back to sketching, Gen leaning over her the entire time to look at the process. They found themselves talking about random topics and joking about the others for what felt like hours. Eventually, Koharu finished her sketch and stood proudly.

"Well, that's all this bitch can do for now. Rest of it needs to be painted." The sketch was beautiful, no one could possibly deny that. The part that stood out the most however, was that everyone was smiling in it, as if they were all good friends. "I'm gonna grab a bite to eat. Haven't eaten anything yet and I'm hungry as fuck."

"Alright. Fair warning, it ain't that great."

"Eh, as long as it ain't gonna kill me I think I can manage." Koharu left the lounge, waving goodbye to Gen. He returned the wave and laid himself down on the couch, thinking about Koharu's sketch.

" _Everyone looked like they were friends…"_ An idea made its way into Gen's head. " _That might be one way to help make sure no one dies…"_ Gen nodded to himself, content with what he had thought up. " _That it! We need to be friends. Friends don't kill each other after all. That could be just what we need to keep us alive!"_

Filled with newfound determination Gen got up in a hurry and bolted out of the lounge, eager to find the first person to be given forceful bonding time. He quickly had to tone down his enthusiasm unfortunately, for not two steps into the hall he found himself face to face with a scowling Masuyo. " _She still seems upset from yesterday, I may want to tread carefully here."_

Masuyo lightened up a little when she saw Gen, but agitation was written all over her. "Oh, hi Gen." She unenthusiastically greeted Gen, tapping her foot with frustration.

"Hey there Masuyo. It's uh, nice to see you again." Gen nervously coughed into his shoulder. He needed his phrasing to be delicate. "You and Momoko not seeing eye to eye?"

"You could say that. Or as the shrimp would want to hear, 'no'. I swear, that girl thinks she can stack up to me, the world famous archaeologist? She has another thing coming. Next time I see her, well I'll…" Masuyo was angrily pacing at this point, mumbling all sorts of nasty things about Momoko.

"What exactly were you two talking about anyway?" Gen hoped that if Masuyo vented to him that she would calm down a little.

"Oh you name it. I was asking her all sorts of intellectual and philosophical questions, but all the little brat gave me were simple yes or no answers. Those questions were to promote critical thinking and many interpretations, and all she gave were elementary level responses!" A figurative dark cloud was swirling over Masuyo's head. For some reason, Masuyo really seemed to take what Momoko said personally.

"And did she ask anything of you?"

"Yeah, she asked me some hard hitting, thought provoking problems. But guess what?" Masuyo stopped her pacing with a hard stomp of her feet and faced Gen. "Apparently my replies were too 'vague' and 'indecisive' for her! And then she called me wishy-washy and left! The nerve of that girl to walk out on me of all people!" Masuyo took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She was clearly still upset, but it would seem that she wanted to change the topic. "So, what's up with you? Anything going on?"

"Actually…" Gen remembered that Masuyo was one of the people with an unknown crime. Hopefully she would respond more favorably than Akuma did. "I was thinking about getting everyone together and discussing our reasons for being arrested. I figure that if we all know each other a bit more, maybe we can trust each other and not be swayed into murder."

"Good idea!" Masuyo flashed Gen a smile and a thumbs up. "It would be a shame if someone as great as me were to die in a place like this! I'm all for some teamwork and cooperation!"

While it would seem her motivation was a little selfish, all that mattered was that she agreed to it. "Super. If you see anyone else, could you let them know? It would be for the best if we did this sooner rather than later."

"Of course! I'm very dependable you know! In fact, I think I'll go on a hunt for our fellow inmates right now!" Masuyo did a few small stretches like a runner would before a relay. Gen figured it would be safer to move against the wall. "Wish me luck!"

Gen made the right call in backing away from her. Masuyo ran off at incredibly high speeds, the bundle of energy almost knocking him down. " _I think I can consider everyone informed if she's the one handling this."_ Gen let out another sigh. Masuyo was reliable and had a strong personality, but Gen really hoped she would get over her feud with Momoko before it boiled over. " _Might as well work on my friendship plan in the meantime."_

Gen remembered that he heard Aruna was in the storage room earlier. This was a while ago, but he figured she might still be there. " _As good a person as any. I must admit, I am more than a little curious about her."_ He made his way over and entered, finding Aruna sitting on the edge of the path above, kicking her legs over the edge while eating out of a nondescript box. She noticed him and threw some of what she was eating at him. " _What."_

"Ah Gen! It is good timing you have. Joining Aruna for a snack?" Aruna continued stuffing her face with whatever she was eating. Gen picked up a piece that she threw at him.

" _Damn, if I knew there was food in here I never would of gone to the cafeteria."_ The food in question looked to be a hard candy that was clear in color. "Don't mind if I do." Gen popped it into his mouth and immediately regretted it. He spit it out and started gagging on the floor. It was the most appalling thing he had ever tasted in his life. "What… what _was_ that!?"

"Box says it 'krill toothpaste' flavor. Quite good Aruna thinks." She seemed to notice Gen was having difficulty standing after just tasting a little of it. "You not fan?"

" _Keep your cool Gen, even if she practically tried to kill you, remember friendship. Friendship. Yes, I must be friendly with her."_ Gen stumbled to his feet, his breath returning to him. "It uh, wasn't to my tastes."

"Really? Disappointing." Aruna stood up on the walkway and put the box of horrid candies onto one of the shelves. "Maybe Aruna can help finding something better for Gen. You are up for helping Aruna with searching?"

" _I think she just offered to hang out with me."_ Gen was relieved that Aruna was up for some quality bonding, even if he himself was a little uneasy about what other 'delicacies' they might find. "Gladly."

"Great! Aruna will start up here, let Aruna know if found any goodies!" The two of them searched for hours in the storage room, Gen being careful not to let Aruna spot any of the boxes he was hiding that had more 'goodies' in them. Eventually they both felt like they had searched the room well enough and met at the ground level.

* * *

 **ARUNA:** It is shame not finding anything better for you. Aruna will try harder in the next time!

 **GEN:** Ah, no thank you. I couldn't impose that on you.

 **GEN:** _Really, all the 'food' in here is just terrible…_

 **ARUNA:** Ah, if you is sure, then Aruna will not be bothering.

 **GEN:** _Now would be a perfect chance to get to know her better. Hmm, what should I ask?_

[Like any of the guys?]

 **[What sport did you manage?]**

[Got any more candies?]

 **GEN:** So Aruna, I was wondering what sport did you manage?

 **ARUNA:** Oh, Aruna managing many sports. All teams wanting Aruna's help.

 **GEN:** Really? How many teams would that be?

 **ARUNA:** 43\. Aruna in charge of helping 43 teams trying to make their best!

 **GEN:** 43!? How do you possibly keep track of 43 teams at the same time!?

 **ARUNA:** Aruna has good memory. Aruna also knowing all sports very well.

 **ARUNA:** Ever since Aruna come to Japan, Aruna helping teams win!

 **GEN:** I-I see…

 **GEN:** _This girl is one busy bee!_

 **GEN:** Just to clarify, where was it that you came from again?

 **ARUNA:** Aruna is from Indonesia! Is nice place, recommending visiting!

 **GEN:** _I suppose she does look like an Indonesian, I probably could have guessed._

 **GEN:** Hah, maybe. Can't say I've been there yet.

 **ARUNA:** Japan is also nice! Strange place, it still nice!

 **GEN:** Yeah, we are a little strange.

 **GEN:** _Though I could easily say the same to you._

 **ARUNA:** Odd customs, nice people. Aruna is glad for so many friends!

 **GEN:** _Seems Aruna is rather fond of Japan. Can't say I blame her, it's a nice place._

 **GEN:** _I feel like I have a better understanding of Aruna now._

* * *

 ***BING* *BONG* *DING* *DONG***

"Ahem, it is now 8PM. Inmates who value their lives best be off to bed! Tragedy has been known to strike at night!"

Gen didn't feel all that tired, but he assumed that it would be better if he got sleep soon anyway, especially if he was to get up early from now on. "Well Aruna, I think I'm gonna head off to my room now."

"Ah yes, Aruna will do same in moments." Aruna made for one of the doors to the storage room. "After checking things, Aruna being right off to sleep."

"Right. See you tomorrow then." Gen gave a wave goodbye and trekked back to his room. Once there, he jumped onto his bed and found himself slowly drifting off to the world of dreams.

" _I wonder how many of the others agreed to our meet up?"_

* * *

 **AN: Tah-dah! The first part of the first chapter ladies and gentlemen. Most of the cast was absent, I know. Don't worry, we'll see them again soon. We still have five more FTEs to go this time around since I figured why not. See you all next time**


	7. Chapter 1 II

**AN: It feels to me like this one took forever to come out. Oh school, why must you trouble me so? Well it's here now, and that's what matters! Onto the review replies!**

 **Abitat Eco: I'm glad to see you've found a few favorites! It's also reassuring to know you approve of Jun so far, he's for sure a real fun one to write. You aren't the only one who's hopeful for Aruna, I've noticed she has quite the fanbase going here! Based on the end of your review, I wonder if this chapter might satisfy you?**

 **aWasTooShort: See, the way I've decided to look at it is like this: They are used to prison. They all know that you really can't get out once your inside, so why waste the energy trying to escape? Of course, I can think of one or two of them who might be trying still anyway. Yeah, I also noticed those two got a bit less screen time than the others. When you have sixteen inmates, it can be a little challenging to juggle the spotlight between them all evenly. Hopefully it's a little more balanced now.**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: Yeah, he's a real cool guy. I know if nobody showed up for breakfast I would just leave, but he's a bit nicer than me in that regard. So you like Gen and Koharu eh? Well, I hope for your sake the two have many more moments together. But it is Danganronpa after all, so who can be sure? I'm also glad you liked the alternate choices during the FTE. I want to implement some game features in the story, and you'll definitely see more things like it later.**

 **mahoushoujo: Looks like someone went on a review spree! I'm glad you like my writing and are pleased with Hanami! It's also nice to see someone actually likes Hayashi, he's a bit prickly for most people. Good to see you've started the shipping already, lets me know how well I've made certain characters interact with each other, so ship away!**

* * *

The morning announcement blared once again, this time Gen chose to ignore it though. Last time he got up early it didn't really pay off for him, so he decided to sleep a little longer. Unfortunately for Gen, it was only several minutes longer. There was an insistent knocking on his door that was making it difficult to sleep. " _Who could it be this early in the day? Better be important…"_

Gen slowly and reluctantly rose out of his bed to answer whoever was knocking. Waiting for him on the other side was Masuyo, much too full of energy for Gen's liking at this time of day. "Rise and shine sleepyhead! Hurry on up and get over to the cafeteria, we are going to start our little exchange soon."

It took Gen a few moments to process what she was saying, his head still groggy from his sudden wake up call. "Wait, we're doing that _now_?" It was happening much sooner than Gen had anticipated, he thought it would take a while for everyone to get together.

"I said I would handle letting everyone know, didn't I? Besides, with these things it's better to get them out of the way ASAP." Masuyo gave him a thumbs up before she started jogging away down the hall. "Everyone else is waiting, so don't dawdle!"

She was already gone before Gen could even reply to her. " _Of course, when I decide to not go first thing in the morning, everyone else does. Now that's just typical."_ Gen let out his first sigh of the day before getting himself ready to leave. It only took a minute or two before he headed out to meet the others. He eventually made it to the first set of cafeteria doors and entered, finding it filled up considerably more than it was yesterday.

To his surprise, everyone was there. He could see Shiro and Jun sitting together, Jun playing with his food like a child with Shiro cautiously watching. Momoko was attempting to ask Umeko something it looked like, but Umeko was using Ryou as a sort of shield. Masuyo was sitting quite far from them with Yoko keeping her company. Hayashi and Botan each took a corner of the room to themselves, not wanting to interact with anyone else. The others were all sitting together with Akuma looking quite pleased that he was alone with five girls.

"Alright, I'm here. How're we gonna do this?" Gen brought everyone's attention to himself as he walked in and sat next to Koharu. "Does anyone wanna go first?"

"Oh~! Me, I wanna goooooo~!" Jun stood up very quickly and knocked his tray of food onto the floor in the process. "I wanna tell you alllllllll about what I did~!"

A multitude of glances were exchanged at Jun's outburst. Everyone already knew what he did it seemed, but since he was willing to go first Gen didn't stop him. "Alright Jun, the floor's all yours."

"Hooray~! Listen up everyooooooooone~!" Jun leapt up on top of his table, startling Shrio greatly, and began acting out his story. "This is totes gonna be shocking to you guys, but I'm a kidnapper~!" Nobody said anything about it, and it seemed Jun didn't mind. "As a specialist in all things fun and exciting, I was able to steal away children and make sooooooooo much money~!" Gen could have swore he saw a frown briefly flash onto Ryou's face, but it was gone in an instant. "You're all curious as to my devious and complex motives, riiiiiiight~? Well my partners in crime, I'll tell you~! You see, I did it for-"

"No one cares." Botan scoffed at Jun, the eager boy deflating a little. "All we needed to hear was your crime. You are a kidnapper. That's enough. Sit down and let someone else speak." Jun slowly got off of the table and returned to his seat, making sure that Botan could see him pouting. "That's better."

"I-I will listen to your uh, story l-later Jun. If y-you want me too I mean…" Shiro's attempt at reassuring Jun seemed to be good enough as the other boy quickly returned to his jubilant self.

"And what a story it is~! Lemme tell ya Shiro, you made the right call on that one~!"

"Will the peanut gallery please refrain from talking unless spoken to?" Botan crossed his arms and disapprovingly glared at the two before speaking again. "Who's up next?"

"If I may?" Ryou stood up and cleared his throat. "I was arrested and charged as a-"

"Kidnapper? Yes, we _all_ know. You seemed very adamant about that point earlier." Ryou sat down while Botan continued to look a little frustrated. "Could someone without an obvious crime proclaim what they did?" Many of the eyes in the room looked to Chizuru at Botan's wording, to which she just chuckled but said nothing.

"Maybe you should go yourself if you're so eager…" Hanami was mostly muttering to herself, but Botan heard her and decided to take her up on the offer.

"Fine. All of you follow my lead and we can get this done and over with quickly so we can get on with our lives." Botan stood up and waited for everyone to give him their undivided attention before proceeding. "I was arrested for murder. Done." Botan ignored everyone's shocked expressions and sat back down. "Not so hard now, is it?"

"Hahaha, oh man, you're fucking hardcore ain't ya?" Hayashi was the only one laughing at this revelation, everyone looking at him like he was a madman. "Shit, guess I know who to watch out for!"

"This is NOT a laughing matter!" Umeko was looking a little pale, which for some reason seemed to excite Momoko. "He just admitted to being a murderer! Shouldn't we do something about it!?"

"H-Him being a uh, m-murderer is quite alarming…" Shiro seemed to shrink in his chair as if trying to hide himself from Botan.

"Right? Maybe we could tie him up and lock him away somewhere!" Umeko was nervously looking around the room trying to gauge if the others would help her.

"Indeed. A woman such as myself would stand no match against a _murderer_." Chizuru took a sip out of her glass of water and gave Jun a wink. "Lucky for me I know someone who's just _great_ with ropes."

"Guys~! She's talking about me~!" Jun once again sprung himself on top of his table, Shiro being left to look dejectedly at his food which now was under Jun's feet. "I know alllllll about ropes~! You'll be snug as a bug Botan~!"

"Good! Go do that and lock him away somewhere so we don't have to see him! A murderer like him can only be trouble!" Umeko was looking relieved that her plan was being taken into action.

"Use your ears woman." Botan seemed rather unfazed at Umeko's suggestion. "I said I was _arrested_ for murder. I never said I was a murderer."

"What's the difference!? You can't just say something like that without elaborating a little! Give us _something_ at least." Umeko was starting to get a little frantic, Ryou was trying to calm her down but it wasn't really working too well.

"Unfortunately for you I do not feel like giving out my life story. I said my crime, that's all I am expected to do." Botan simply shooed towards Umeko like she was a fly. She looked like she was going to protest more, but when she saw that no one else was overly concerned she simply gave a huff and went back to sitting quietly. "Next please."

" _I can't say I'm not at all concerned that he admitted his crime was murder, but why would he admit that?"_ Gen had to ponder on Botan's words, it was quite odd to him. " _He could have lied about it to make us less suspicious of him but he instead gave it to us straight. Why?_ " Botan was still looking around for someone to speak next, unaware of Gen's thoughts about him. " _Come to think of it, he didn't tell me what he did the other day when I asked. Maybe he wants us all to distrust him? But why?"_ Gen was snapped back to reality when he heard to gorgeous lady next to him begin to speak.

"I think the _handsome_ man in the flashy outfit should go next." Gen could feel his face reddening as Chizuru gazed at him seductively. "I'm just _dying_ to know what kind of a bad boy you _really_ are."

"Fine." Gen figured that his turn would come up sooner or later, might as well get it over with. "Assault. That's what I did to go to jail."

"Oh my, he really _is_ a bad boy." Chizuru purred at him and sweetly smiled. "I suppose I found my knight in flashy armor. As a _big_ , _strong_ , _handsome_ man, I know I'll be safe with you." Aside from Chizuru's flirtatious remarks, the others just expressed mild shock or simply acknowledged that he answered.

" _Don't fall for it Gen. Women like this are nothing but trouble."_ He told himself that, but a part of him was really tempted to make a move on her. As he was thinking impure thoughts about Chizuru, a sudden pain erupted in his foot. He looked under the table and saw that Koharu had stomped down on his foot, hard.

Koharu whispered to him low enough so the others wouldn't hear. "I got your back man. Bitch is trying to play mind games with you. Not happening on my watch."

"Thanks." Gen could only whisper back through gritted teeth. He was grateful Koharu was looking out for him, but he wished she did it in a less painful manner. "Who's up next?" Gen was plenty eager to move the conversation along and away for himself.

"I might as well." Koharu casually waved her hand in the air so the others would notice her. "My services in forgery are available to most of you at a good rate since I like ya." She gave a glance at Yoko as she was saying this, it would seem she is excluded in the offer. "Lemme tell you, they are damn good forgeries. I might even be as bold to say they are better than the originals!"

"Bold indeed, for such a claim is an affront to the arts that you disgrace." It would seem Yoko wasn't going to pass up a chance to look better than Koharu. "It is a shame, really, that all you can do is merely mimic the works of others! A pity that you have squandered what talent you did possess on such endeavors!"

"Look, don't get your panties all in a bunch. My shit is all great, fake or originals." Koharu seemed to puff out her chest in pride a little. "You don't believe it, that's your problem, not mine."

"That crass behavior is fitting for a pig such as yourself." Yoko crossed her arms and turned her head up at Koharu, ending their little banter.

" _Sheesh, what crawled up her ass and died?"_ Gen still could not for the life of him figure out Yoko. The woman was so uppity, at least to him and Koharu, that he really didn't even want to bother trying to understand her better. "Your highness, since all us commoners are declaring ourselves, perhaps you would be willing to do the same?" Yoko glared at Gen when he said this, which he was kind of hoping would happen. He knew that he needed to be playing nice with everyone, but Yoko was sure making it hard for him.

"Gladly _commoner_." Yoko hopped onto her table and struck a dramatic pose. "Spotlight please!" The lights in the cafeteria dimmed somehow and a bright light was cast upon Yoko. It looked great, until one noticed that it was just Masuyo holding up a flashlight under her. Gen also saw that Akuma had snuck his way over to the lightswitch on the wall and dimmed the lights for her.

" _Okay, she totally planned this out. Damn."_ Gen was mildly impressed that she went to so much effort for something like this.

"Mine is a story of heroism and the delivery of justice!" Another pose was struck as Gen could only look on in befuddlement. "I confronted a devil in the industry and exposed him for all that he was! It was an ugly truth, the crimes are unspeakable and the victims were many. Indeed, my emotions were at an all time high, and in the heat of the moment I slammed his precious framed poster down on his head. Such a sight to behold it was! A sick villain wearing his most prized possession as a new scarf! It was a spectacular performance, one of my best!" Yoko gave a curtsy as the lights came back on. "That is my story in brief. You may now applaud!"

The only one in the 'audience' who clapped for her was Kanon who was doing it absentmindedly. Akuma and Masuyo gave her a few half smiles with hesitant applause. "Great, now someone else can go." Botan seemed a little annoyed with how long she took explaining herself."

"Whaaaaaat~? No fair~! Why did you stop me but let her tell a story~?" Jun was back to pouting at Botan, Gen could only imagine that the boy was feeling a little excluded.

"Did you not know that it is rude to interrupt a performer during their performance? Show some manners you clown." Gen thought he saw Botan smirking, seeming to relish in Jun's frustration. "Come now, chop chop, I would rather not be here all day. Someone go."

" _Yeah he totally wants us to hate him."_

"Should Aruna be going? Aruna thinks all know, but Aruna can say again." Aruna seemed a little unsure of if she should speak or not. She glanced at a few of the others who all nodded 'no' back to her.

"Aruna, _darling_ , ladies like us don't need to say a thing." Chizuru leaned back in her chair and gave her a sly grin. "We have it _all_ out in the open. Plain for everyone to see."

"Ah, Aruna understands. Aruna will not repeat Aruna is illegal immigrant."

"But you just did…" Hanami was mumbling to quietly for Aruna to hear her pointing it out. Gen was thinking the same thing, and it looked like almost everyone else was too.

"I just… take things. I can't help it." Kanon said her crime without anyone asking. It came a little out of left field, but for her it seemed natural enough.

"Oh, thank you for sharing Kanon." Akuma had since moved back to his seat near her. "Absolutely lovely that you would take the initiative like that."

"Seems there's another thief around here." Chizuru leaned her chair forward so she was right in Kanon's face. "You wouldn't be interested in my jewels at all, would you?" There was a faint bitterness to her last few words, as if she was sizing up the competition.

"No, those don't interest me." Kanon didn't look like she was going to continue, but since Chizuru didn't move she went into a little more detail. "I only take things I like. I can't help it."

"Well then, I think the two of us will get along just _fine_ darling." Chizuru seemed satisfied enough for now and returned to sitting normally. She looked over to Hanami who was sitting with her head facing the floor. "What about you sweetie? What could someone like you have done to be locked away, hmm?"

Hanami didn't even bother looking up when replying. "Hacking."

It didn't appear that Hanami was not going to say anymore than that. Nobody felt like prying too much into why, especially with Botan constantly pressuring people to keep it short. "Great. Next."

"I volunteer Shiro as tribute~!" Jun motioned excitedly at Shiro, the other boy now looking around in confusement about what to do. "Oh, did you karate chop someone's head and make it explode~!? Did you kick someone out of a window in a ten story building~!? Did you snap a fool's neck~!? C'mon, I wanna knoooooooow~!"

"N-No, I would never do that!" Shiro was biting the tip of his thumb so hard it looked like it would start bleeding. His eyes were bulging and screaming for help. "I-I just uh, flipped someone okay? I-It was an uh, accident, okay? Please don't call me a killer!"

"No one is saying that you are." Ryou gave Jun a pointed glare to try and get the boy to curb his enthusiasm. "Thank you for sharing Shiro." Ryou seemed to calm down Shiro, he was now slouching in his seat looking tired from that sudden burst of excitement.

"Moving on." Botan took a count around the room to see who hadn't gone yet. "Umeko, Akuma, Masuyo, Hayashi, and Momoko. One of you say something."

Momoko looked like she was about to say something but was quickly cut off by Masuyo. "Yeah, I think I'll go now." Masuyo gave Momoko a smug look while the other girl simply watched with mild irritation. "To be honest, I really didn't do anything wrong. See, on some of my expeditions I would bring some stuff home with me. You know, finders keepers and all that." Masuyo balled her hands into fists and seemed like she was suppressing anger. "Well apparently some people didn't like that and called me a thief. It's such bull, I found it so it's mine!"

Momoko seemed elated with Masuyo's livid demeanor. "Wow. You must be even less intellectual than I thought. That's plainly stealing."

"Wha!?" Masuyo found someone to direct her pent up frustration at, it looked like she was about to lunge at Momoko if it weren't for Yoko physically restraining her. "To accuse someone of my stature of stealing!? Come over here and say it!"

"Masuyo please, stay like a calming wind and let not these evil thoughts tempt you so!" Gen had to give it to Yoko, she was stronger than she looked. Despite Masuyo's best attempts she could not break out of the singer's hold.

"A calming wind!? I'm about to unleash a hurricane on her ass!"

Ryou thankfully intervened before things could get more heated. "Masuyo, please calm yourself. The purpose of this meeting was to reduce the chances that someone would be killed, not increase it." Momoko's snickering did not go unnoticed by Ryou who then turned his attention to her. "Also, I would ask that you do not make such provocative remarks. Surely I do not need to explain myself?"

"What? But she's just another dirty petty thief! I'm just saying it how it is!" Ryou could only shake his head in disappointment at Momoko for failing to listen to him.

"Sweetie, I would recommend you watch what you say about thieves. They know where _all_ the darkest shadows are, if you understand?" A shiver went up Gen's spine, Chizuru almost sounded threatening there. Momoko on the other hand did not seemed fazed.

"Present company excluded! Sorry Chizuru, forgot that's your thing!" Momoko seemed like she genuinely meant no disrespect to Chizuru, only Masuyo. "But fine. I'll be a good little girl for now. Only niceties here!"

"Niceties huh? Yeah, sure." Masuyo begrudgingly sulked back to her seat, thankfully no longer gunning for Momoko. Gen did not really think their little tizzy was over, Masuyo probably just didn't want to look bad by attacking someone who was no longer taunting her. Not in front of everyone else, anyway. "Well what did you do then? Something better than being a 'petty thief' I take it?"

"Who can say, as you like to say?"

"What!?" Masuyo didn't make a move at Momoko, but Yoko looked ready to grab her if she so much a lifted an inch out of her chair. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"It means I'm not telling! I can do that, right Ryou?" Momoko smiled with glee and how irked she made Masuyo. Ryou simply nodded twice in affirmation.

"That is correct. If you do not wish to divulge your past we will not force you to."

"Sweet!" Momoko giggled while the rest of the inmates were left to look at her like she was a weirdo. "Don't get me wrong, I have no problem telling you guys what I did. I just feel keeping it to myself will be more… fun? Suspenseful? No, definitely both. Well anyways, my lips are sealed!"

"F-Fun? It's kinda more uh, s-suspicious I think." Shiro was not the only thinking that, Gen could see Umeko and Masuyo were also eyeing Momoko warily.

"No no. It's not _kinda_ suspicious. It _is_ suspicious. Which is exactly why I'm not telling!" Her innocent laughter reverberated throughout the cafeteria, almost making what she said sound harmless.

Umeko was starting to get upset again, her expression becoming that of an angry mother with an overactive child. "Why are you being so difficult you phobia freak!?"

"It's really quite simple if you think about it Umeko." Momoko abruptly ended her laughing fit and turned to Umeko with a smile reminiscent of the cheshire cat. "I can already see it. The seeds of fear being sown into you all. It's only a little now, but if I keep up the pressure… oh boy, things could get F-U-N."

Masuyo seemed more irritated at her than ever before, Yoko putting a reassuring yet firm grip on her shoulder. "You're doing this for some sick kicks? What the heck is wrong with you?"

"She's clearly insane. I'm starting to think she's the one we should tie up!" Umeko was back to her frantic state from earlier, looking to Jun who gave her a thumbs up. He seemed down for it.

"Come on now, don't treat just me like that. After all…" Momoko pointed to Hayashi quickly and with force. "You ain't gonna spill your secrets either, are you?"

"Fuck no I'm not." A middle finger was impolitely raised to the rest of the group. "I'm not giving any of you shits anything."

Looking content, Momoko next turned her attention to Akuma. "And you? Are we going to hear about how you came to be a prisoner?"

A guilty looking Akuma hesitantly replied back, looking at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry guys. Maybe some other time, but… it's really bad. I really don't want to say it."

" _He did say earlier that he was falsely imprisoned. Botan said the same with a murder charge, so whatever it is that Akuma supposedly didn't do, it must be pretty bad."_

"So you see Umeko? I'm not the only one you need to keep an eye on!" Umeko's face was going pale from Momoko's overbearing presence. If it weren't for Ryou being between the two, Umeko probably would have bolted off. "I can't help but think you are also someone trying to hide something."

"W-What? What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone else has already gone, right? So are you going to hide it like me or tell the world? I'm all ears!"

Umeko suddenly changed from looking fearful to looking almost embarrassed. She was mumbling something, though Gen couldn't hear what it was.

"Speak up so those of us across the room can hear you." Botan was looking tired, they were so close to being done with this and Umeko's statement was the last one they needed to hear. It makes sense he'd be pressuring her.

Umeko blurted out her crime very suddenly and loudly, burying her face in her arms afterward. "TAX EVASION!"

An awkward silence filled the air. " _Oh my. Lord have mercy."_ Gen could not believe what he just heard. Almost everyone else here had a very serious crime, and she just simply didn't pay her taxes. " _No wonder she's so distrustful of us. Her petty offense is nothing compared to the rest of us, except maybe Aruna."_

"Great." Botan stood up and walked over to the door. "This was honestly a terrible use of my time. Ryou, your little 'trust exercise' proved to be more damaging than it was helpful." Botan left, Ryou simply shaking his head.

"I disagree, but if he wishes to see it like that, who am I to stop him?" Ryou stood up himself, making Umeko also get up so she was not sitting alone with Momoko. "We might as well go about our day. I shall be around if anyone needs me." After Ryou left the rest of the inmates made for the exits one at a time until the cafeteria was empty. Well, empty except for Gen and Koharu that is.

"I must admit, that could have gone better." Gen could only sigh. While most everyone seemed to be on at least neutral terms, a few of them were proving very problematic.

"I'll say. Thought for sure we were gonna see a real life cat fight there for a second. Woulda been quite the show." Koharu was chuckling, but Gen could tell she didn't really want them to go at it.

"No kidding. Those two really don't like each other." It was so confusing to Gen. Alone, the two of them were both tolerable, even a bit likeable. Together, they acted completely different. "Maybe we should keep them apart for now. Maybe if they spend enough time away from each other they'll both just get over it."

"Hopefully." Koharu got out of her chair and walked over to the door, waiting for Gen to do the same. "You got anything else planned today? Cause I don't got shit, so if you wanna hang out I'd be down."

"Yeah, that sounds fine to me." Gen was relieved that at least someone was willing to cooperate with his friendship plan, even if she wasn't aware of it. "Where are we off to?"

"I was thinking we could swing by your room."

"Cool, I'll lead the way." It was not until the pair had walked halfway to their destination that Gen realized exactly what it was she said. " _Wait. Wait. Wait. Why are we going to my room!? A-Are we already at this stage!? But I've only just met her! I-I mean she's nice enough, but this might be going a little fast!"_ Even as they reached Gen's room he was having second thoughts about the whole thing, but Koharu didn't seem to notice his hesitation.

Gen opened up his door anyway, the two stepping inside. "Huh. So your room does look identical to mine." Koharu then walked over to his bed and jumped right onto it.

" _Oh my God, are we really doing this!?"_ Gen was starting to sweat. He'd been in intimate relationships before, but even those took longer than a couple of days to do the deed! He watched her intensely as she… patted down the bed and thoroughly investigated it? Gen had at this point become more confused than aroused. "Uh Koharu, what are you doing?"

"Checking for bedbugs. Those nasty motherfuckers could be hiding here and I won't allow it." She threw his pillow onto the floor and lifted up his matress to look under it. Her little adventure in the bedroom took a few minutes before she was satisfied. "Seems clean, looks like you can sleep easy tonight."

"Oh uh, thanks, I guess?" Gen let out a sigh that was filled with both relief and disappointment. It would seem her intentions were less perverse than he had assumed. "So was there anything you wanted to do?"

"Well I found a couple of decks of cards in the lounge earlier. You up for a game or two of whatever?" Koharu pulled out both a red and blue deck of standard playing cards.

"Sure, I'm always down for a game of cards." Koharu handed him the red deck and he began shuffling it. "Hey, since we have two decks, wanna learn a new game?"

"Well as long as you're a halfway decent teacher, why the fuck not?" Koharu was shuffling the blue deck between her hands.

"Cool. I learned this one from a mailman I met over in Nevada." Gen explained the rules of the game, which took quite a bit longer than he thought it would, and the two of them played several rounds before Koharu finally gave up.

* * *

 **KOHARU:** This game is a load of bull. I didn't win a single time.

 **GEN:** I'm surprised you were able to bear with it as well as you did. Most people quit after one game.

 **KOHARU:** Geez, if you knew it wasn't popular, why'd you wanna play it?

 **GEN:** I think it's very fun.

 **KOHARU:** Because you always win?

 **GEN:** …

 **KOHARU:** Whatever, next time we're playing something normal.

 **GEN:** _A normal card game huh? Maybe she would like…_

[Blackjack]

[Old Maid]

 **[Strip Poker]**

 **GEN:** Oh yeah? Fine. I'll take you on in strip poker next time.

 **KOHARU:** Sounds like a plan. Just don't bother covering yourself up, I need a new nude model.

 **GEN:** Someone's confident.

 **KOHARU:** Confidence comes with the trade. No one would buy from a dealer who can't sell.

 **GEN:** True enough. I bet that made you loaded, didn't it?

 **KOHARU:** Fuck yeah it did. Those rich pricks would drop so many zeroes it would make your head spin.

 **GEN:** So you did it for the money than?

 **KOHARU:** Not much other reason to go into forgery. Sure as heck don't make you famous.

 **GEN:** _She sounded almost sad when she said that last part. Wonder what that's about?_

 **KOHARU:** Well, I'm gonna skedaddle on outta here. Hang out again later?

 **GEN:** Of course.

 **GEN:** _She's one of the people here I certainly won't mind seeing again._

* * *

After saying his goodbyes to Koharu, Gen was left alone in his room. There was still plenty of time left in the day, so it would be a waste to go to bed now. He decided to work on his friendship plan some more and set out in search of some of the others.

"I wonder who my next victim will be?"

* * *

 **AN: And that's all she wrote for this one. I know it was a bit of an info dump, but sometimes you just have to do it like that.**


	8. Chapter 1 III

**AN: What is this? An update that took less than two weeks to come out? I'm as shocked as you are. Anywho, onto the review replies!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: Well it's understandable that not all are going to be willing to share. I promise that it won't be a secret forever! Masuyo and Yoko, unlikely friendship, but those are sometimes the best!**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: It's nice to see there are characters you love and hate at the same time, makes me feel good as a writer. I had a feeling you'd love Koharu's FTE, mostly because it was so fun to write! As for who the next victim of his friendship plan is, hopefully you'll be satisfied with this chapter.**

 **LivelyRoses: Tax evasion. Yup, I assumed everyone would get a kick out of that, glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought the idea was funny! Glad to see speculation floating around.**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: I'm happy that you think so highly of these guys, but I'm worried calling them all your favorite will make it more hard for when one of them inevitably bites the dust. Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot!**

* * *

Gen searched vigorously for the next people he would subject to his friendship plan. He was not looking for anyone in particular, and he didn't mind that. His search brought him to the laundry room, where he found Jun and Shiro sitting at the table talking about something. It looked like they had pretty much already finished their conversation by the time Gen walked in, but that didn't stop Jun from waving him down as soon as he was spotted.

"Yoooooo Gen~! You just missed out on my thrilling backstory~!" Jun was being his usual ball of energy, Shiro on the other hand was looking rather exhausted. "It was a riveting tale of love, betrayal, and intrigue~! You should have told me you were gonna stop by~!"

"B-But most of that wasn't in your story. N-Not that I'm uh, calling you a liar or anything…" If Gen were being honest, he expected Jun to embellish his story to make it more interesting, not that the party planner in question seemed to feel bad about it.

"Well, boring ol' me needs some bells and whistles, you know~!? I need to hook the audience quick, or I'm not gonna hook them at all~!" Jun scooted his chair over and patted the one next to him, inviting Gen to sit down. Gen figured he may as well, so he took the seat offered to him. "But c'moooooon Shiro, why do you gotta spoil my little fun~!?"

"S-Sorry Jun. I'll just uh, k-keep quiet then…" Shiro slid down in his chair, only his head being left above the table.

"That's okay Shiro, I wasn't going to hear it anyway." It would seem that made Shiro feel better since he was now sitting up in a more relaxed position. Unfortunately the other boy in the room was now bursting into tears.

"Stab a guy in the heart why don't you~! I didn't know you were soooooooo mean Gen~! Waaaaaaaaaaah~!" Gene didn't buy for even a second that he was actually crying, but playing nice would help him with his plan, so he took the bait willingly.

"I meant that I would listen to it later. That's what I meant."

Sure enough, Jun's tears were dried in the blink of an eye, his trademark smile back once again. "Oh I just knew you wanted to hear it~! You don't need to be so shy around me, I don't bite~! Prooooooooomise~!"

"I'll be looking forward to it." If what Shiro said earlier was true, most of what he would say would be a load of crock. Normally Gen hated wasting time with such nonsense, but if it meant a lot to Jun he supposed he could hear him out.

"Super~! But I don't have any repeat showings listed for today, so you'll have to come back later~!"

Shiro seemed glad he wouldn't need to sit through it a second time, relief plain to see on his face. "S-So what are we going to do n-now then? If you uh, s-still want me around I mean."

"A good question my buddy and pal~!" Jun leaped out of his chair and over the table, walking to the door after he landed. "I'm gonna get a few things~! Sit tight you two, play nice while I'm awaaaaaay~!"

When Jun left to go who knows where Gen was left alone with Shiro. " _Well this just got a little awkward."_ It isn't that Gen disliked the guy, but he hasn't really had a chance to get to know him. It would seem Shiro was feeling similar, he was fidgeting in his chair and looking away from Gen. " _Might as well try breaking the ice."_

* * *

 **GEN:** So… how's it going?

 **SHIRO:** F-Fine! All f-fine over here!

 **GEN:** _Okay, that didn't go anywhere. Let's try something more direct._

 **GEN:** Do you like judo Shiro?

 **SHIRO:** O-Of course I do! It's uh, v-very fun!

 **GEN:** Oh? What's the fun part?

 **SHIRO:** It's all f-fun. I enjoy it uh, lots.

 **GEN:** _It's like I'm talking to a wall._

 **SHIRO:** Uh, c-can I ask you something Gen? N-Not that you need to answer or anything…

 **GEN:** _Oh thank God he's taking the initiative._

 **GEN:** Sure, I'm an open book. Ask away.

 **SHIRO:** W-Well I was uh, w-wondering if y-you'd maybe…

 **GEN:** If I'd what?

 **SHIRO:** I-If you could, maybe uh, teach m-me how to uh, be m-more like you.

 **GEN:** _Now that's surprising._

 **GEN:** Why would you want to be more like me? Surely there are better role models around here.

 **SHIRO:** W-Well your easy to t-talk to, a-and you seem to get along with everyone.

 **GEN:** I wouldn't go as far as to say everyone.

 **SHIRO:** M-More than me! They all think I'm a loser, I think…

 **GEN:** Now why would you think that?

 **SHIRO:** B-Because I heard some of them say I'm not quite what they expected…

 **GEN:** _I really can't argue against that._

 **SHIRO:** They want me t-to be uh, m-more assertive and uh, stuff…

 **GEN:** _I think I see his problem, he wants to gain some confidence. Hmm…_

[Suggest he work on his muscles.]

 **[Offer to help with his speech.]**

[Push the task onto someone else.]

 **GEN:** We can start by getting rid of your stutter.

 **SHIRO:** S-Stutter?

 **GEN:** Yes. That and your hesitation when you talk.

 **SHIRO:** W-Will that help me uh, become better in their eyes?

 **GEN:** For sure. I'll start developing some exercises right away.

 **SHIRO:** Y-You'd do that f-for me?

 **GEN:** Well, yeah, that's what friends do.

 **SHIRO:** F-Friends!?

 **GEN:** _He seems rather shocked by that._

 **SHIRO:** T-Thank you so much Gen! I-I promise to uh, d-do my best!

 **GEN:** _My insides feel all warm and fuzzy now, damn it all._

* * *

"I'm baaaaaack~! Did you guys miss me~? Because I sure missed you~!" Jun barged back into the laundry room, his arms filled with several bags of various items. He plopped them onto the table and returned to his seat. "Look what I found~!"

"T-That's a lot of stuff! D-Did we need it all? Not that I'm uh, doubting you or anything…" While Shiro was speaking Jun went ahead and started dumping the contents of the bags onto the table. There were snacks, knicknacks, stuffed birds, hors d'oeuvres, and just all sorts of things.

"Well I don't knooooow~! I kinda just took what I could get~!" Jun picked up a box in front of him and opened it up to find a robot action figure inside. "I figured if I took so many things at least something was bound to be fun~!"

Gen was stunned by the variety of objects in front of him, he had never even seen any of this when he was digging through the storage room earlier. "Where did you even get all this Jun?"

"Well the vending machine silly~! Where else do you go for all your basic needs~!?" Jun was playing with his new action figure, pitting it against one of the stuffed birds in a mock battle for the ages.

"W-We have a uh, vending machine? B-But I haven't seen any…" Shiro's confusion didn't stop him from inspecting the goods laid out before him. He picked up a small tin of crackers and started eating them. They looked to be just plain saltine crackers, but from Gen's personal experience he was willing to bet they were a million times better than the slop in the cafeteria.

"It's right next door you goof~! Don't tell me you haven't seen it yet~!?" Jun's little battle came to a climactic end as his action figure stood triumphant over it's avian opponent.

"I-I thought that was j-just an empty room…"

"Not at all my dear Shiro~! Not at all~!" Gen remembered that Masuyo theorized earlier that the empty room was a vending machine, but as far as he knew they hadn't found a way to operate it. "All you gotta do is stick one of these coins in the wall, and presto~! You get yourself a fancy new doodad~!"

Jun handed out some small coins to Gen and Shiro. They were a sort of brownish color and had the face of their warden plastered on both sides. At the bottom the word 'MonoCoin' was engraved. "I've searched this place from top to bottom and haven't seen any of these before. Where in the heck did you find them Jun?" Not even when he looked through the storage room with Aruna did either of them come across any coins.

"Well I maaaaaay or may not have taken them all already~!" Jun seemed rather proud of the fact, his prideful look of victory was easy to see. "You wouldn't believe where some of those beauties were hidden~! I had to look here, there, everywhere~! Under boxes, on boxes, and in boxes~! They were all mine to plunder~!"

"S-So why did you spend them all on these, uh, things? Seems a little r-random, I think…" Shiro had finished his tin of crackers and moved on to some other bag that had yet to be dumped out. There was a snowglobe with a little car in it that Gen quickly swiped, not that Shiro really seemed to mind.

"Unfortunately you can't pick what you get, but you know what~!? That was part of the fun~!" While Jun was speaking Gen was shaking up his new snowglobe, mesmerized by the beauty of it. "Besides, we can have hoooooours of fun with all this junk~! And I hereby declare that we will~!"

" _Hours? Well there goes any other activities I could have done today."_ The three guys spent, like Jun said they would, hours messing around in the laundry room with all the stuff Jun acquired. It was more fun than Gen thought it would be, and he could tell Shiro was also having a good time. Eventually the nighttime announcement came on and Gen was suddenly aware of how tired he was. He was not the only one, as Shiro bid the other two goodnight and went off to his room. Gen was about to do the same before being stopped by Jun.

"Hold your horses cowboy~! We ain't quiiiiiiite done yet~!" Gallantly galloping on a broomstick with a plush horse head at the end of it, Jun went out of the laundry room door and blocked the path leading the the bedrooms. "There's oooooooone more thing we gotta do~!"

Gen was getting sleepy, but this was a good chance to hang out one on one with Jun, so he brushed aside his weariness. "Okay, what's this last thing we're gonna do?"

"Follow me and you shall see~! Onward my faithful steed~!" Jun, still riding his wooden horse, sped past Gen and went over to the vending machine room. "You still haven't used this thing, riiiiight~!?"

It was true that Gen had yet to utilize the empty room for its intended purpose, and to him this seemed like a prime opportunity to do so. "I suppose I haven't. Am I in for a lesson?"

"Oh~! Does this mean I get to play professor now~!? Sweet~!" Jun dismounted and entered the room, Gen following behind him. He was now using the toy as a pointer stick, outlining a small slot on the wall. "Okay, first you put your coin in here~! Go on, do it~!"

Gen did as requested and pulled out one of the MonoCoins Jun gave him earlier. He stuck it in the slot and heard a sort of noise coming from inside the wall. A small bit of the wall opened up to reveal a new item. " _The tag says it's a 'Man's Nut'. Not sure what I would do with this."_

"Whaaaaat~! You got a rare on your first try~! Way to go Gen~!" Jun seemed thrilled about it, but it still seemed a little pointless to Gen. He put it into his pocket anyway, someone might want it eventually, and it wasn't like it took up very much space. "Again~! Do it again, you're so good at this~!"

Gen sighed and pulled out another coin. Once again he inserted it into the slot, and once again did he get a prize. This time it was a pink tie with a pattern of monkeys eating cabbage. " _And here I thought the last thing I got was trash, this thing is just plain hideous."_ As he was debating on throwing it away or not, Gen could feel Jun staring intensely at the tie. It seemed like he wanted it, though Gen could not imagine why. "Did you want this Jun? You can have it if you want."

"What~!? You would let me increase the size of my novelty tie collection~!? Oh Gen, I knew you understood me~!" Jun hastily picked up the tie and replaced the one he was currently wearing with it. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but in a way it was fitting for Jun. "Your teacher is pleased~! Full marks~!"

* * *

 **GEN:** You seem like a guy who knows how to have a good time.

 **JUN:** Well duh~! Gotta keep the kiddos happy~!

 **GEN:** Even when you abducted them?

 **JUN:** For sure~! You shoulda been there, we had such a great time~!

 **GEN:** They had a good time being held against their will?

 **JUN:** When you word it like that it sounds soooooooo evil~!

 **GEN:** _He does know that kidnapping is generally considered evil, right?_

 **JUN:** We played games, and watched movies, and they were all for sure sad to go~!

 **GEN:** Do I even want to know how much you made from ransom?

 **JUN:** That many zeroes might blow your mind~!

 **GEN:** Why would you even need so much cash?

 **JUN:** You are not yet of a high enough rank to know~! Proceed further with me to find out~!

 **GEN:** What does that even mean?

 **JUN:** To get to know me better, you need to know me better~!

 **GEN:** How would I get to know you better?

 **JUN:** We can start by playing a game~!

 **GEN:** What did you have in mind?

 **JUN:** A tried and true classic~! Tic-Tac-Toe~!

 **GEN:** _Where did he pull that pencil and paper from?_

 **JUN:** I'll go first~!

 **GEN:** _He put an X in the center. I should…_

 **[Mark the top right box.]**

[Mark the middle left box.]

[Mark the bottom middle box.]

 **GEN:** I will go… here!

 **JUN:** Aw~! Why'd you have to go and end it in a tie~!?

 **GEN:** We're only two moves in!

 **JUN:** Well, yeah, but you put a circle in the corner~!

 **GEN:** So?

 **JUN:** If you pick the corner after I pick the middle, we tie~!

 **GEN:** And if I didn't pick a corner?

 **JUN:** Then I would have won~!

 **GEN:** Every time?

 **JUN:** Every time~!

 **GEN:** _I should have known he would have a deep understanding of Tic-Tac-Toe of all things…_

 **JUN:** I guess I'll have to up my game for our next encounter~! You are a worthy opponent Gen~!

 **GEN:** I shall await it with great anticipation.

 **GEN:** _He seems like he had fun. I have to admit, so did I._

* * *

"Okay Jun, it's been a blast, but I am super tired right now and need to go to bed." Gen started walking away, waving to Jun.

"Night night~! Sleep tight~! Don't let the bedbugs bite~!" Considering what Koharu did earlier, bedbugs were the least of his worries. He didn't have the energy to vocalize that thought, and instead simply made his way over to his room, where he fell asleep as soon as he fell onto his matress which was still a mess from his time with Koharu.

The morning announcement came soon enough, and Gen got up to get ready as soon as he heard it. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday when he was the only one who was tardy. After only a few minutes he left his room and headed out to the cafeteria. Once he got there he was surprised by the occupants inside. Ryou he expected to see, but aside from him, Umeko, Momoko, and Hayashi were also present. Nobody else seemed to be there. " _Well if I hoped for a simple morning, I was sadly mistaken."_

Hayashi simply glared at Gen as he walked by, not bothering to say anything while he was eating. Umeko was sitting at the far corner away from the others, and Momoko and Ryou were sitting together in the middle. After grabbing a tray of green goop Gen sat by Momoko and slowly began some small talk. "What's going on guys? Figured I'd see more than four people here."

"He doesn't know?" Momoko quizzically looked at him as Gen simply shook his head to indicate he didn't know what she meant. "He doesn't know! Now I don't wanna ruin it for him!"

"I don't know? What don't I know?" He directed his inquiry towards Ryou, he seemed more likely to give a straight answer than Momoko.

"Have you checked your MonoPad yet today?" Gen hadn't, so he pulled it out and found that there was a message from their warden waiting for him. "It would seem that our warden has grown tired of our inaction, he is pushing harder for a murder to occur."

The message on the screen read as follows: " _To the inmates who haven't even lifted a finger to kill someone: You guys are boring me. I expected heavy bloodshed and mutual destruction, but you all have disappointed me more than I ever could have imagined. It would seem that some incentive is in order, so there will from now on be an extra benefit to receiving a pardon from moi. Any inmate who is pardoned will now have all of their past crimes scrubbed from history, and those responsible for their downfall will receive a special punishment. So how about it, revenge and a clean slate. Tempting isn't it? Makes you wanna kill, doesn't it? Signed, your absolutely adorable warden, Monokuma."_

"What the hell is this nonsense?" Gen looked between Momoko and Ryou, neither able to help him. "There's no way he could really do that, right? I can't believe he would have the power to erase our crimes, not to mention find all those who got us arrested. It has to be a bluff."

"Whether or not it is a bluff is irrelevant. The important part is that he has planted seeds of temptation into us, threatening our already delicate state of peace." Ryou was justifiably concerned, someone could easily be swayed with something like this.

Momoko on the other hand, was not nearly as bothered. "I can already tell everyone is on edge. Look around and see that most of them aren't here. They can't fully trust anyone. The fear they all have, it is growing exponentially. I just wish they would come out so I could ask them about it!"

Gen ignored her remarks, he didn't feel like wasting time with her fear fetish. He instead opted to observe what the other two in the room were up to. Umeko was staring at them with suspicion, it was amazing that she was even here at all considering her distrust of the rest of them. " _Maybe she thinks there's safety in numbers."_ Meanwhile, Hayashi had got up and walked over to where Gen was sitting. " _Oh great, what could he want?"_

"Hey, fuckboy, I gotta question for ya." Predictably, he was being as delicate and sensitive as he usually was.

"Now that's a surprise. Oh great Hayashi, lord of the playground bullies, what could a humble fuckboy like myself possibly offer to you in knowledge?" Momoko was giggling at Gen's antics while Ryou simply observed with a blank face.

"Funny little shit ain't ya? Pfft, whatever. Listen good, ya hear!" Hayashi adjusted his jacket and then slammed his hand onto the table, leaning in aggressively to put his face mere inches from Gen's. "Tell me, do you think anyone's gonna kill over this dumb shit?"

Trying not to give Hayashi the satisfaction of rattling him, Gen tried to keep a straight face and neutral tone without budging. "I don't know. Quite frankly I haven't the foggiest idea on who might fall for this."

"Tch, fat lotta good you are. Piece of shit." Hayashi sharply turned his face to Ryou, smirking as if gloating his control over the conversation. "What about you, kidnapper? Think we will have some fun with a fucking homicide?"

"No, I will not allow such a thing to occur." Ryou replied without a moment of hesitation, giving Hayashi an answer that it seemed he wasn't looking for.

"Nice to know fools keep eachother company." Hayashi turned his focus to the last one at the table and asked her the same question. "Hopefully you ain't as big a dipshit as these two. Is someone going to die over this?"

"Of course. I am one hundred percent sure this will result in a murder." Hayashi seemed pleased and Ryou seemed displeased with Momoko's viewpoint.

"Hah, your bitch has more sense than you dolts." Hayashi vacated his palm from the table and turned his back to the group. "You fuckers need to face reality if you wanna survive in this God forsaken hellhole. It's eat or be eaten, and to me it looks like you're fixing to get eaten."

Hayashi was walking away from them, but Gen wanted to get one last thing in before he left. "What about you then? You sound almost eager for a feast."

He did not turn around, but Hayashi still replied. "Isn't it obvious? You must be a fucking retard if you think I'd let myself be killed by the likes of you idiots." Hayashi gave one last middle finger before disappearing out the door, the room getting considerably less tense.

"I wonder what that was all about." His question was a little odd, someone like Hayashi normally doesn't initiate conversations like that. Gen was curious as to his motives.

"He seemed to be sizing us up, in his own way." Picking up his now empty tray, Ryou got up and went to put it away, still talking as he was doing so. "I speculate he was trying to gauge our opinions on the new motivation, to see if we were potential threats."

"Really?" As Ryou was walking back to the table, Momoko slid her tray at him, expecting him to put it away for her, which he looked like he was going to do. "To me it seemed like he just wanted an excuse to yell at us. Guys like that, with all that anger, they just love belittling others. It makes them good about themselves, since they hate themselves for having a tiny dick."

"Wha!? K-Keep those lewd thoughts to yourself!" Umeko's face was bright red as she was yelling at Momoko from across the room. Of course she was listening in, why wouldn't she be?

"Yeah yeah, I'll set aside some time for you later scaredy cat, so sit tight 'kay?"

"Whatever you're planning, I want none of it!" Umeko hurriedly got up, leaving her tray behind so that Ryou would have to put it away as well. "Just stay away from me, please? You really freak me out."

Umeko ran away out of the cafeteria, Momoko laughing to herself again. "I freak her out? Uh, yeah, that's the point!" Momoko also stood and did a small stretch before walking nonchalantly over to the doors. "It's like she doesn't even get what makes me tick. Oh well, nothing for it but to find someone else to play with." She left with a small skip to her step.

Ryou finally made his way back to where Gen was sitting, though Gen had at this point risen from his seat. "I take it you are finished here as well?"

"Yeah, I might as well make the most outta the day." Gen noticed Ryou was looking at his tray, wondering if he would have to put that one away as well. Gen would feel bad for making him do it a fourth time, so he picked it up himself and went to set it in its proper place. "I just hope that most of them haven't locked themselves away in their rooms. Would make my day a heck of a lot more boring."

"Indeed. Go on, enjoy yourself. I shall stay here in case any of them decide on having a late breakfast." Gen waved goodbye to Ryou as he left to see someone else. He was hopeful that nothing bad would happen, but a terrible thought kept nagging at him in the back of his mind. He sighed.

" _It is a good motive..."_

* * *

 **AN: Another one down! Next time will be the final two FTEs, Chizuru and Hanami, and then the long awaited first death! I am both excited and reluctant for that to happen, I love these guys more than you can imagine, killing one of them is going to hurt.**

 **I'm curious to see who you all think it's going to be. I have posted a poll on my profile, but I wouldn't mind also hearing some theories in the reveiws. As usual, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to drop them in the reveiws!**


	9. Chapter 1 IV

**AN: Can you guys feel the excitement in the air? Because I know I sure can. I'm getting so giddy and nervous at the same time uploading this, I hope it meets expectations! Before anything else though, let's reply to some reviews!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: I like your thoughts, a shame I can't confirm or deny any of them!**

 **liammarklh88: Plug away to your heart's content. Seriously, go for it. Yeah, Akuma didn't show, but I'd rather have 5 characters get decent screen time in a chapter as opposed to 15 characters getting minimal screen time. I promise you will see more of him though! To what capacity however, I leave unknown. Also, don't beat yourself up over not reviewing, makes me feel guilty, it's totally cool if you don't feel the need to leave one every time.**

 **mayurie: If you thought the last one was quick, this one must be super quick! Glad to see you really liked the two FTES, I hope they served as a good dose of your daily recommended cuteness. I'm happy my updates make your day, the reviews left on them have the same effect on me!**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: The friendship plan is the best plan, plain and simple! Jun hoarding all the MonoCoins to himself seemed like a good way to introduce them as a concept, especially since he seemed like the type to go crazy with them. Who can say how he'll grow? As for who the motive may tempt, well, I'll leave that to you to deduce!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: He's a pretty hateable guy, so I suppose that might have something to do with it. Let's see which of those death flags is correct, shall we?**

* * *

With the thought of the new motive still lingering over Gen's head, he set out in search of someone. It could be anyone, he just wanted somebody to talk to. Eventually he blindly wandered into the lounge and found Chizuru there, reading a magazine in one of the chairs. She looked up from what she was reading and a small smile graced her face when she noticed who it was that disturbed her. " _Oh boy, brace yourself Gen. Things could get a bit touch and go here, and hopefully not in the literal sense."_

"Oh my, if it isn't my favorite _handsome_ man. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Chizuru tossed the magazine to the side and rested her chin on her hands, gazing at Gen with passion.

"Oh, well, you know… just dropping in to say 'hey'. Didn't expect to see you here to be honest." Gen was trying his best not to let it show how embarrassed he was from tripping over his words.

Chizuru gave him a playful pout. "So it was just chance we were to meet here? Come now _handsome_ , no need to deny that you wished to see me. At least make a girl feel better and say so, alright?"

" _If that's what it takes…"_ Gen sighed. He was not going to be the loser in this little game they were playing. "You got me. What can I say, I am as a moth to the flame."

"A flame you say?" She seemed to think about it for a moment before her seductive grin made its reappearance. "I quite like that. It _is_ rather fitting for me. I had _no_ idea that you were also a budding poet."

"I am a man of many talents." Gen walked over to the couch and layed down on it, getting quite comfortable. "There's more to me than just my pretty face."

"Is there now?" Chizuru leaned forward in her chair, arms under her chest to exaggerate her assets. "Well, tell me _all_ about it then. I would just _love_ to get to know you better, _handsome_." It was less that she was asking, and more like she was telling him to do it.

" _I suppose this is as good a chance to get to know her better as any."_

* * *

 **GEN:** What is it that you want to know?

 **CHIZURU:** The _only_ thing I know about you is that you drive cars _really_ fast.

 **CHIZURU:** What _else_ defines the _handsome_ man in front of me?

 **GEN:** You're already mistaken.

 **CHIZURU:** Oh? _Do_ enlighten me.

 **GEN:** I'd be a pretty pathetic Ultimate Racer if my talent were limited to just cars.

 **CHIZURU:** So what else then? Motorcycles? Boats?

 **GEN:** Yes and yes. Also bikes, small engine planes, some running and swimming, horses-

 **CHIZURU:** So you're an all around speed demon? How _very_ interesting.

 **GEN:** What can I say? I'm the fastest thing alive.

 **CHIZURU:** Not all women find that very _attractive_ you know.

 **GEN:** Not that way! Geez…

 **GEN:** _Of course she would interpret it like that._

 **CHIZURU:** But surely even someone as fast as you _has_ to take it slow every once in awhile, _no_?

 **GEN:** Well yeah, can't be speeding away all the time, can I?

 **CHIZURU:** So tell me about it. Any hobbies or interests?

 **GEN:** _Hobbies or interests eh? I have a few…_

[Assemble model cars.]

[Watch magical girl anime.]

 **[Unwind with a good drink.]**

 **GEN:** I've been known to sit back with a drink or two and just relax.

 **CHIZURU:** ...Are we talking about the _good_ drinks?

 **GEN:** Sometimes. A beer every now and then is fine, but I much prefer the stronger spirits.

 **CHIZURU:** How unexpected. I'm more partial to fine wine myself.

 **GEN:** I'd drink wine more, but the really good ones are just too expensive for my blood.

 **CHIZURU:** If money's an issue, I could hire you as my _personal_ chauffeur. The pay is _exuberant_.

 **GEN:** And by that, I assume you mean getaway driver?

 **CHIZURU:** Oh _heavens_ no, I work alone _handsome_. This would be more… _personal_.

 **GEN:** I'll keep your generous offer in mind.

 **CHIZURU:** _Please_ do. We could have so much more _fun_ together once we're out of this putrid place.

 **GEN:** _I wanted to learn about her, but we only really talked about me._

 **GEN:** _That's fine, right?_

* * *

As soon as their conversation came to a close Gen was prepared to get off the couch and say his goodbyes to Chizuru. He did not get that chance however, as Chizuru leapt out of her seat and jumped on top of him, pinning him to the couch. "Wha!? What are you doing?"

"Shh, quiet _handsome_. Don't want anyone to see us in this _compromising_ position, do we?" She put a finger to Gen's mouth to quiet him, but all this mostly did was make him red in the face. Well, that paired with the view he was currently getting. "We can talk more _later_." She pulled out a small piece of paper and rested it on Gen before crawling off of him. "Au revoir my _handsome_ man."

It wasn't until several minutes after she left that Gen finally looked at the paper she left for him. He needed a bit of time to calm himself. " _Might as well see what it was she couldn't tell me in person."_ He opened it and found a message written in beautiful handwriting waiting for him. " _Lets see… meet in the laundry room after the nighttime announcement... she promises a good time…?"_ Gen folded the paper up and put it into one of his pockets. " _Is this a late night booty call? Can't be… could it?"_

Gen sighed and cleared his head. Chizuru was just being a tease like usual, no need to look too deep into it. Keeping that in mind he slowly got up and exited the lounge, only to almost be knocked over as soon as he stepped out the door. "Get away from me! I said I'm not interested!"

Like a blur he saw Akuma run past him, with another individual in close pursuit. "Come back dooooooooc~! I said I'd be gentle~!" Jun was hot on Akuma's heels as he ran after him, also almost knocking Gen to the floor.

" _I should set up a speed limit for these damn hallways."_ It was then that Gen noticed Botan casually walking out of the storage room, where it looked like those two came from. "Hey, what was that all about?"

Botan continued walking, not stopping as he replied. "Seems Akuma is attempting to reject that imbecile's attempts at friendship. Can't say I blame him." A few steps later and Botan was already out of sight, clearly not wanting to give anymore time to Gen than he already did.

" _As eloquent as ever I see."_ Gen poked his curious head into the storage room to find Kanon and Aruna hanging around. Aruna was sitting on one of the steps eating some probably disgusting snacks out of a bag while Kanon was just staring up at the ceiling. Gen figured he may as well spend some time with them. "Hello ladies, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Not interrupting, Gen wanting more of Aruna's yummies?" She offered the bag which read 'Mint Seaweed Offal' as it's flavor. Gen politely declined as she stuffed more of her snacks into her mouth. "What can Aruna be of helping to you then?"

"Could you tell me what was going on with Akuma and Jun? They were going pretty fast out there." He left out the part were they both almost made him take a pratfall, that would've been a tad embarrassing.

"Ah yes yes, Jun trying to make Aku having fun together. Big meeting, all invited, much fun to be had." Gen allowed her some more time to enjoy her snacks before she continued. "Later in day we going to lounge room for fun times. Jun is saying party are good for lifting mood."

"Jun is throwing a sort of party?" Aruna nodded in affirmation to his question. " _Seems like he's trying to stop a murder in the only way he knows how. I should thank him for his efforts later."_ Gen was glad Jun was trying his best to help the group, but he was still a little worried. "Do you know of anyone else going to his little party?"

"Aruna going, Aruna like all fun things with friends." Aruna gestured at Kanon, who still hadn't moved or said anything yet. "Kanon also going, Aruna think she need more fun time in her life. Botan declined offer, sad time for him but Aruna is not being personally upset. Others are unknown to Aruna."

"I see. Thanks for the heads up Aruna, I'll swing by if I think of it." Aruna smiled innocently and went back to munching her awful snacks. Gen decided he may as well leave, the storage room was not very interesting to him anymore after all. Before he walked out the door he turned to Kanon one last time. "I'm leaving for now, got anything you feel like saying before I do?"

It took many a moment of silence before she gave him a reply. "...This room is tall…"

"Heh, yeah it sure is." Gen sighed, he should've expected such an answer from Kanon. He waved goodbye to the pair of women and made his way over to the bedrooms. Or at least he would've, if he didn't stop to observe some fellow inmates talking by the entrance to the courtyard.

Talking may have been putting it mildly. Gen could see Yoko and Masuyo interacting with Koharu and Momoko. From the sound of it, the archaeologist and the phobologist were going at it again, with the other two trying to hold them back. " _I think I'd rather not get involved. Koharu is more than capable of handling them all on her own, I hope."_

Sighing and trying not to be seen, Gen continued on his journey to the sleeping quarters. He figured someone might be in that area since it was a place he hadn't really checked yet. Considering that a new motive was just presented it wouldn't be unlikely for someone to be hiding in their room. " _Actually, there is one person I'm a little concerned about."_

Gen walked over to one of the doors and knocked. After a few seconds the door creaked open an inch and Hanami peaked out, her bunny hood obscuring her eyes. "...What is it?"

"I was just checking up on you. What with the new motive and all, I was wondering how you were doing." Gen was doing his best to sound as friendly and non-threatening as possible. He didn't want her to think he was being a creep or something.

"I'm doing fine."

"Oh, that's good. Say-" Hanami was about to shut the door on him, but Gen stuck his fingers inside the frame quickly. It hurt like hell, but at least the door wasn't shut. "Ow! Why did you shut the door?"

"I thought we were done talking…" She seemed like she meant no harm, and something about her made Gen imagine himself as a terrible person if he got mad at her, so he let it go.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to do something together. Beats sitting around in your room all day doing nothing, doesn't it?" Gen was rubbing his poor fingers gently, hopefully they wouldn't bruise.

"...I'm not doing nothing…" Hanami opened the door wider so Gen could see into her room. It looked identical to his, except there was something on top of Hanami's bed. There were tools and a small bunny looking robot which was seemingly under repair.

"Oh wow, what's that?" He didn't want to just barge in, but thankfully Hanami stepped aside and let him walk up to her bed.

"That's Peace-chan. She's broken…" She sounded so sad about it that Gen was half tempted to give her a reassuring hug, but he refrained from doing so.

"What's wrong with her? Can you fix her?" There were several tools Gen had never even seen before sitting on the bed, and judging from what little he could see of Peace-chan's inside, it was a complex piece of machinery.

"...Kinda…" Hanami sat cross legged on her bed and put Peace-chan into her lap. She grabbed one of the tools and began working on it again. "She got smashed real bad. I can fix her outside, but she's gonna be stuck in offline mode…"

"Is that a big deal?" From the look she gave him he assumed it was. He felt a little stupid for asking now.

"She can't do anything but be cute in offline mode…" Hanami grabbed a different tool and started messing with some exposed wires. "Normally she hops along behind me… she can even talk…"

"She talks?" Hanami nodded. "That's amazing! Did you make her yourself?" Hanami nodded again. "Can she do anything else?" Yet again Hanami nodded.

"She helps me with my hacking… she's my personal assistant…" Hanami was now poking and prodding at some part of Peace-chan's inside that was out of Gen's sight.

"That's pretty neat." Gen watched Hanami work on her robot companion for a bit before an idea came into his head. "Hey, why don't I help you fix up Peace-chan? I'm sure it would go faster with two people working on her."

"I don't think you'll be much help."

" _Brutal."_ Even though Gen considered himself fairly smart, he did have to reluctantly admit to himself that this was something completely beyond him. "Well how about I just keep you company while you work on her then?"

"Why?" She didn't even look up from what she was doing.

"Wouldn't you get lonely being cooped up in here all by yourself? Besides, I'm curious to see Peace-chan when she's all fixed up." Gen was pretty sure she didn't mind being by herself, but he did truly wish to spend some time with her. " _Locking yourself away with no human contact is not what someone should be doing with their time."_

"...You're weird…" She continued her work, leaving Gen to wait in anticipation for if she would approve or not. "...But fine. I'm almost done anyway… just a few more hours of work left…"

"Thanks, I promise not to get in your way." Gen leaned against the divider in her room and watched Hanami as she continued repairing Peace-chan. " _Hours huh? Not like I had anything better to do anyway."_ The whole time they were together only a few words were exchanged, Gen was trying to be courteous and not bother her too much. Eventually Hanami put away her tools and declared Peace-chan as fixed as she could get for the time being. All the exposed circuitry and wires were taken care of, and you couldn't even tell that it was at one point a pile of scrap. Gen also thought it was a bit cute, but he kept that to himself.

* * *

 **GEN:** Wow Hanami, they don't call you the Ultimate Robotics Engineer for nothing! I'm impressed!

 **HANAMI:** …

 **GEN:** You did such a good job! This is seriously cool!

 **HANAMI:** …

 **GEN:** I wish I was smart enough to do that, you're amazing!

 **HANAMI:** ...Hey Gen.

 **GEN:** Hm? What's up?

 **HANAMI:** You don't have to keep pretending to be so kind to me…

 **GEN:** What? Who's pretending?

 **HANAMI:** I know you're doing it just to be polite, but you don't have to keep up the act…

 **GEN:** You think I'm just doing this to be polite? Hanami, I really am impressed, honest.

 **GEN:** Why would I lie to you?

 **HANAMI:** It's not only you… every is just being polite. I'm sure none of them really care…

 **GEN:** _Ow, the pangs in my heart, they hurt me so._

 **GEN:** _She's gotten all sad again, and I can't let that stand! How to cheer her up…_

[Is Hanami a cute? She is!]

 **[Do you want to see a magic trick?]**

[Let's do push ups! Everyone loves push ups!]

 **GEN:** Hey Hanami, do you want to see a magic trick?

 **HANAMI:** M-Magic!?

 **GEN:** Yes indeed! After all, what else could explain this coin behind your ear?

 **GEN:** _I'll have to remember to thank Jun for the MonoCoins later._

 **HANAMI:** W-Wow! You can do magic Gen!? You're a magician!?

 **GEN:** _It's just a sleight of hand, but she looks so pure and innocent right now._

 **GEN:** I only can perform a few feats, I'm still honing my skills.

 **HANAMI:** ...That's so cool!

 **GEN:** Heh, I knew you'd think so. My sister always cheered up when I did magic for her too.

 **HANAMI:** Really? I think I'd like your sister.

 **GEN:** ...Yeah, you probably would.

 **GEN:** So now do you believe me? I really do think you're great.

 **HANAMI:** ...If you can do magic, you can't be that bad…

 **GEN:** _It seems like she might be more willing to open up to me next time. Mission accomplished!_

* * *

The nighttime announcement interrupted their conversation. Hanami yawned and rubbed her eyes, she looked exhausted from working on Peace-chan for hours on end. "I'll leave so you can get some shut eye, okay Hanami?"

"'Kay. Night Gen…"

"Goodnight Hanami." As Gen was about to step out the door he heard Hanami mutter something to herself that made him stop.

"...Thanks Gen…" He wasn't sure if he heard her right or not, but she didn't make any attempts to clarify. She probably didn't intend for him to hear her. "...Can you hurry up? I need to tinky before bed."

"O-Oh, yeah, uh, I'll be off then…" The flustered Gen shut the door behind him a bit more forcefully than he intended to. As he was about to enter his own room he remembered the message Chizuru left for him that asked him to meet up. " _Should I go? Hmm…"_ Gen ended up pacing back and forth in the hall for several minutes before reaching his conclusion. " _No, a late night rendezvous with her can only be a bad thing. I'm sure I'll get some flak from her later over this, but I'll stand her up."_ It was with a conflicted mind that Gen eventually made his way to his bed and went to sleep for the night.

Gen did not sleep very well, he woke several times in the night and ended up getting out of bed approximately a half hour before the morning announcement. He figured that since it was so close to the morning announcement anyway that it would be pointless to go back to bed, so he left to go to the cafeteria after he got ready. His walk down the hall was uneventful, and he eventually made it to the cafeteria doors, where he found Ryou and Botan standing. "Hey guys, why're we just standing out here?"

"Why hello there Gen, I am surprised to see you here this early." Ryou waved to him in a friendly manner while Botan simply gave him a half assed smile. "As for why we are standing here, were you not aware the cafeteria doors are locked during nighttime?"

"They are?" Gen walked over to the doors they were standing in front of and tried to turn the handle. Sure enough, no matter how hard he rattled it, the door would not open. "Guess midnight snacks are out of the question, huh?"

"Pfft, not that you'd want to eat this crap more than you have to anyway." Botan was right, it being locked didn't really affect Gen in any meaningful way. The three men were left to wait outside the doors until the morning announcement came on. Eventually it did, and Ryou opened the door like a gentleman and let Botan and Gen in before following after them.

Stepping inside, it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Tables were flipped over and chairs were strewn about as if a hurricane had swept through the place. Gen's mind was instantly jumping to the worst conclusion, and it would seem Botan and Ryou were thinking the same thing. Ryou walked quickly past Gen and over to the kitchen door, which was eerily left ajar. "Follow me you two, someone might be in here."

The kitchen was in no better shape, several of the cabinets were missing their doors, and the island in the middle was covered in broken glass. The fridge was left open and the contents inside were now all over the floor, making it difficult to walk without slipping. "Over here." Botan made his way to the door of the walk in freezer, also left open. "It reeks of iron, I hope you two don't soil yourselves if the sight is what I suspect it to be."

" _This can't be what I think it is! There's no way, right!?"_ The three braced themselves and slowly took a hesitant step into the freezer, the world as they knew it coming to an abrupt end.

* * *

 _There was blood everywhere. The walls and floors were smeared red, and all the frozen boxes in the freezer were painted the same hue. Against the far wall there was a crumpled up, lifeless shell resting in a pool of blood. The face was completely unrecognizable, mutilated beyond belief. The clothes were torn in numerous places, cuts and bruises ubiquitously placed. Their hair was all over the place, matted by the blood. If it weren't for the outfit, it would be impossible to tell who it was. But there could be no mistake. With the black dress, heels, and now red scarf, it could only be one person laying before them._

 _Yoko Miura, the Ultimate Opera Singer, was dead._

* * *

 **AN: I would like to begin by expressing my sincerest thanks and a heartfelt apology to Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera. Yoko was a great character, I absolutely enjoyed writing her and it does pain me that she had to be the one to go first. It was not easy deciding on who the first victim would be, and I hope this does not put any bad blood between us.**

 **In other news, we are now going to move on to the investigate phase. It might take a bit of time to get the next chapter out since all of my finals are in the coming week, but I hope to not keep you all waiting in suspense for any longer than I have to. I promise we will find justice for Yoko!**

 **Is there anyone in particular that you would like to see as Gen's investigation buddy? It won't be possible for some of them, because reasons, but I'm open to any suggestions.**

 **As usual, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to leave them in a review.**


	10. Chapter 1 Investigation

**AN: It's time for investigating! Sorry this one took so long, those finals took up a fair bit of my time and work really wanted to give me extra hours for some reason. Oh well, enough of that, it's time for some review replies!**

 **liammarklh88: You know, I think Chizuru would look good in a Catwoman suit, now that you've brought it up.**

 **aWasTooShort: The crime scene certainly is quite repulsive isn't it? Utterly savage. Hopefully the body hasn't rotted with how long I took to get this out!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: Yeah, RIP Yoko. It wasn't an easy decision I tell ya! I certainly hope it isn't going to be a simple case! It may be the first, but I still hope it challenges you slightly!**

 **LivelyRoses: The two fighting girls are certainly possible candidates, but who knows? Thank you!**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: I'll make up for that fast update with this slow one, heh. I wanted the FTEs, or at least some of them, to develop Gen as well as the other person. Yeah, no more Koharu and Yoko fun times is a bit of a bummer. I love your theories, but I must remain mum on all of them! Thank you!**

 **mayurie: To be honest, I'm surprised she wasn't voted for an FTE. Alas, FTEs are not factored into survival. So you're saying I need to write more scenes with Hanami being cute? I'll see what I can do. Thank you!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Her low amount of death flags was key in making her death as unexpected as possible. I hope the investigation meets your expectations!**

 **Abitat Eco: I feel honored by that achievement. I know how it feels for stories to go nowhere. Poor Yoko indeed, a fighter to the end.**

 **eunnieshoujo: It's kinda funny, I never really meant for Jun and Shiro to have as much shared screen time as they do. It just happens. Oh well, they play off each other well. I have plans for the Man's Nut, don't you worry any! The wait is one of the best parts? Well I'm glad you think so, this one must have been right up your alley then!**

* * *

 ***BING* BONG* *DING* *DONG***

"A body has been discovered! All inmates are to report to the kitchen immediately for further instructions!"

Gen barely registered the sickening announcement playing overhead. Laying before him was the grotesque remains of Yoko, someone who he'd seen alive just yesterday. " _We weren't on the best of terms but… holy shit, she didn't deserve this!"_

"We should step out for the moment, let us stand by in the kitchen until the others arrive." At Ryou's suggestion the three men went back to the ruins of the kitchen, shutting the freezer door behind them to try and block out the horrid image of what lay beyond it.

"Tch, they'd better get here soon. I can already feel my shoes becoming inundated with all this crap on the floor." The rainbow mess on the floor would certainly stain all their shoes, paired with the glass bits everywhere they most likely wouldn't be able to wear their current shoes after this.

" _Wait, broken glass?"_ While Gen was waiting for everybody else to show up, he cleared away a relatively undamaged bit of counterspace. It didn't take very long before the first people began to trickle into the kitchen.

Akuma and Shiro were the first two to arrive, followed by Aruna trailing only a little behind them. The guys were looking panicked, while Aruna seemed unfazed by the whole thing. "Guys, I rushed over as soon as I heard! What happened, who's dead!?"

"I'd rather not repeat myself several times, so let's hold off on questions until everyone gets here, capice?" Botan's harsh words did nothing to ease Akuma, but he stood in the corner and waited like he was told. Ryou gave him an apologetic smile but refrained from going into detail as well.

"Isn't exciting! Game finally starting! Aruna has being waiting for moment!" Gen couldn't believe that she was still thinking this whole thing was pretend, but once she saw the body, he figured she'd learn. He felt almost bad for her. Almost.

"A-Aruna please don't say such t-things. This is uh, very serious, you know!?" Shiro's pleading didn't seem to have an effect on Aruna if her joyful humming was anything to go by. All the guys collectively decided to not try any harder to convince her otherwise.

A small while later Momoko, Masuyo, Umeko, and Koharu entered the scene. The four of them very clearly wanted to know what was going on, but Botan repeated how he didn't want to repeat himself to them, so the four newcomers were forced to stand around for the time being. "Sheesh, don't blame a girl for wanting to know what the fuck's going on."

Koharu shot Gen a questioning look, but he also agreed it would be best to wait until everyone was present, so he just gave her a shrug and she seemed decently satisfied for the time being. " _It's not like I don't want to say anything, I just don't know how I'd start."_

The next ones to find their way to the crime scene were Jun, Kanon, and Hanami. Gen let Jun and Kanon in with no problem, but before Hanami could take a step into the kitchen Gen picked her up off her feet and began carrying her like a bride. "H-Hey! What're you doing?"

She was a lot lighter than Gen thought she would be. "There's broken glass on the floor, and you aren't wearing any shoes. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Hanami stopped her protesting as Gen gently sat her on the space he cleared away earlier.

"Oh. Thanks…"

"So that's how it is hmm? Oh if only I were five years younger, perhaps then you'd be interested in me, _handsome_." Because of Gen's amazing luck, it was only natural that Chizuru would enter at that moment with Hayashi coming in after her, snickering. She leaned over the island in the center and gave Gen a disinterested gaze.

"Flirt on your own time." Botan cleared his throat before addressing the crowd before him. "Now that we're all here, it would seem we can begin at last."

"What? But aren't we missing Yoko? Shouldn't we wait for- oh." It would seem Umeko saw the folly in her own statement before even finishing it. Now that those left alive were assembled, it was clear as day to all of them who had died. "S-So she's the one, huh?"

There was a moment of silence. Everyone was letting it sink in that Yoko Miura was now dead. The silence would soon be shattered however, by the sound of the intercom's static blaring on. "Puhuhu, man, you idiots should see the looks on your faces right now! Priceless!"

Gen looked around for the source of the voice, to no avail. "Alright you damn warden, we're all here, what do you want to tell us?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Monokuma's laughter reverberated throughout the small kitchen. If this was going to be anything like their previous encounter, there was for sure more of it to come. "As you might've guessed, one of you sods offed that annoying girl! About damn time too, seriously, you were boring me to tears!"

"Yeah yeah, the irritating bitch is dead. What d'ya want us to do about it?" Hayashi's lack of empathy hardly seemed surprising to Gen. It still didn't stop him and many of the others from giving him looks of dislike.

"Isn't it obvious, you pea-brained animal? I even spelled it out for you in the rules! We are going to have a trial! A T-R-I-A-L. Something all of you have experience with I'm sure." Gen remembered reading something about trials in the rules earlier, but Monokuma did not go into very much detail on the subject. "But before there can be a trial, there must be an investigation!"

"Oh… so we get to play detective… neat…" While Gen couldn't agree with Kanon that it would be 'neat' to look into Yoko's death, it was at least a little reassuring to know they wouldn't have to go into the trial blind.

"Exactly! Now then, since you all are used to being the ones investigated, and not the ones doing the investigating, I figured I'd help you all out!" A notification beeped onto Gen's MonoPad after the warden finished his sentence. Taking it out, a new icon was available to press called 'Truth Bullets'. When Gen tapped it there was only one item inside to select labeled 'Monokuma File No. 01'. "That right there is a brief summary of the corpse. Be thankful I didn't make you figure that shit out on your own!"

"A word of warning to anyone with a weak stomach, a picture of the body in the freezer is the first thing you see when you open it. It is a little disturbing, to say the least." Ryou was already reading it, and Gen noticed a few fellow inmates putting away their MonoPads at his words. While Gen certainly didn't want to see Yoko's body again, it would be foolish not to give it a look later.

"Well of course there's a picture of the body! Like I said, it's a detailed report to help you prepare for the trial!" Monokuma's high pitched laughter came out once again. "Well, enough talking, get to it! I'll let you know when we're starting the trial, so don't waste your time!"

"Wait! We still-" Botan was cut off by the screeching of static as Monokuma left them on their own. "Tch, stupid bear."

Momoko was jumping up with her hand in the air like a small child trying to get their parent's attention. "So! We are gonna start now, right? Because I for sure don't wanna get it wrong when it comes time to deciding!"

"Indeed. We shall begin immediately." Ryou turned to Akuma and Kanon who were standing somewhat close to each other. "Would you two be willing to examine the body? There may be clues hidden on her person, and those with the most qualifications to search her would be the two of you."

"Yeah, I can look over her. I may be an anesthesiologist, but I still have plenty of useful medical knowledge." Akuma began to walk to the freezer, Botan and Ryou stepping out of his way. "Besides, with the lovely Kanon helping me, I'm sure we can find something, heh."

"...Yes, we will examine her posthaste." It was a little odd seeing her say something with any sort of conviction, but given the situation it was understandable that she'd be serious about it. "...While me and Aku are going in, is anyone else coming in here with us?"

"Urgh, not me~!" I'm er, not very good with gross things like that~! Ha ha~!" Jun seemed like we was forcing himself to laugh in an attempt to cope with what was going on. "I'll be in the cafeteria if anyone needs me~!" It was on wobbly feet that Jun left the kitchen to go search the cafeteria.

"Aruna can searching freezing room. Aruna will do her bestest for helping everyone solve crime!" While her willingness was commendable, she still came off as rather non-serious about the whole ordeal.

"Hmph, I'll go in too. I owe that much to Yoko at least." Masuyo bravely volunteered to begin looking inside the room with the corpse. Akuma held open the door for Kanon, Aruna, and Masuyo before entering the freezer after them, thankfully shutting the door behind him.

"I-I think I'll uh, h-help Jun in the cafeteria. I-If that's okay, I mean…" Shiro looked to Gen who gave him a thumbs up in response. Shiro gave a small bow to him and then went to assist Jun.

"Well, I think I'll go scout the compound on my own for now. Who _knows_ what sort of secrets I might find lying around." Chizuru, and almost all of the others, all went off to do their own investigating in other parts of the correctional facility. The only ones aside from Gen still in the kitchen at this point were Koharu, Ryou, and Hanami.

" _Yoko… I never was able to see eye to eye with her. But still…"_ The image of her lifeless body in the freezer was still stuck in his mind. He would likely never forget it for the rest of his life. " _And her killer is one of us? Someone I know killed her so brutally?"_ Looking to the three others in the room, Gen felt a strange resurgence of confidence. " _Be that as it may, I have friends I know I can trust helping me. I will find Yoko's killer, no matter what!"_

* * *

 **INVESTIGATION**

 **START**

* * *

" _First things first, I'll need to check out the Monokuma File."_ Gen reluctantly pulled up the truth bullet and began to read it outloud, mostly to keep Hanami from having to see Yoko's body. "The body was discovered shortly after the morning announcement in the kitchen freezer. The cause of death is severe blunt force trauma to the head. In addition, there are also numerous other cuts and bruises on her body. Several of her bones suffered fractures and breaks. Death was long, drawn out, and very, very painful."

"Shit, I coulda gone without knowing that last fucking part." Koharu voiced his own opinion for him. Gen even saw the stoic Ryou shudder at what the file implied. Hanami just stared at her feet, eyes starting to water. "The two of us were like water and oil, we didn't mix for jack. Still, I never wanted this sort of thing to happen to her!"

"So Yoko did suffer…"

"Well, regardless of how ugly the situation, this file is undoubtedly critical evidence." Ryou seemed to be looking over his own copy of the file. "Although, I was expecting it to be more detailed. I know Monokuma said it was a brief summary, but still… hmm…"

" _It seems pretty detailed to me. Not sure what Ryou's beef with the file is."_

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **MONOKUMA FILE NO. 01**

* * *

"Still, this place got pretty fucked up. Seriously, it's like a tornado went through here." To exaggerate her point, Koharu started stomping her feet against the floor. The sound of glass crunching and food squishing was clearly audible.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the killer and Yoko fought it out in here. That would certainly explain the destruction. Considering all of the injuries on Yoko's person, it follows that she was locked in a life or death struggle." Gen did not want to even begin thinking about the absolute terror she must have been in during her final moments.

"...A life or death struggle… and she lost…" Hearing Hanami repeat his words back to him gave Gen a small idea.

"Yeah, a struggle. Say, do you guys think it's at all possible the killer was injured? Or at the very least, had their clothes stained with all the food flying at them?"

"It was one of my first thoughts." Ryou looked away from the cabinet he was currently examining. "I looked carefully at everyone who came in when the announcement went off. None of them had any signs of being in a fight, no blood or food stains to speak of. Well, disregarding the stains currently on our shoes, but we all have them so it does not prove anything"

"Damn, bastard prolly changed their clothes soon as they hightailed it out of here." Koharu punched one of the cabinets in frustration, causing the door to fall off its hinges. "Seriously, this place is totally destroyed! Who the hell did this!?"

"That is what we are trying to figure out." Ryou went back to digging through the cabinets near him. "Might I get some assistance with checking out all of these? There may be evidence hiding in one of them."

"Yeah, sure." Gen and Koharu went searching through the cabinets closest to them. Hanami really couldn't, given her position, but she kept a lookout on the rest of the kitchen for them. "All I see is cups and napkins. Couple bowls and other typical kitchen stuff. You guys find anything good?"

"Just a garbage can that's empty and some cleaning supplies, which the killer clearly didn't even bother to try and hide the crime scene with at all I might add." Koharu pulled out a few of the cleaners to show to the rest of them. They were simply plainly labeled bottles such as 'soap' or 'detergent', nothing unexpected. They only seemed to be slightly used. There was even a little scrubbing sponge with them.

" _Probably doesn't matter."_

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED  
CLEANING SUPPLIES**

* * *

"I have found the utensils. There are ample spoons, forks and knives. There is one thing about it that raises some alarm bells however." Ryou took the drawer he inspected completely out of its spot and set it on the center island. Gen could immediately spot what the issue was. "As you can no doubt see, the section for the stereotypical large kitchen knife is empty. I take it none of you have seen it anywhere?" The three shook their heads. "I figured as much. Best keep an eye out for it then, never know if it will be important." Ryou grabbed the drawer and put it back where he got it from.

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **KITCHEN KNIFE**

* * *

"Well that about wraps it up for the kitchen." Gen looked to the other three and gave a nod to them. "I'm going to move onto the freezer. Ryou, could you take Hanami and look someplace else for us?" Gen was unsure if Hanami had the fortitude to handle being around a dead body. He decided to play it safe and try to keep her from coming into contact with it.

"Certainly. Hanami, I shall help you down and we can search somewhere less strenuous." Ryou offered his hand to the girl, but she didn't take it. She actually backed away from it.

"Nuh-uh. You're a kidnapper… I don't wanna go somewhere alone with you…" Ryou did not seem overly offended by Hanami's blunt rejection of him. He simply gave a small laugh and retracted his hand.

"Alright then. I would hate to be a burden Koharu, but could you take Hanami with you instead? It would seem my vocation is causing her discomfort." Ryou and Gen exchanged a knowing look with each other. It seemed Ryou was aware of what Gen was trying to do, and Gen was thankful the kidnapper was so understanding of his desires.

Hanami still seemed a little uneasy at the idea of going with Koharu. The artist walked up to her and tried to reassure the smaller girl in her own sort of way. "Say, you get along well enough with Gen, right?" Hanami gave a small nod. "Well I'm basically Gen if he had tits, so I think we can be great buddies. So come on, let's blow this place!"

The mental image of himself with breasts aside, Hanami seemed willing to go investigate with Koharu. Gen picked her up and carefully placed her at the entrance to the cafeteria. After saying his goodbyes and wishing the girls luck, he went and walked over to the freezer door. "Looks like it's you and me Ryou. Ready?" It was then that he noticed Ryou giving him a warm smile. It was honestly a little creepy. "What?"

Ryou chuckled and quickly returned to his neutral expression. "Oh, it is nothing. You just remind me of myself in my younger days. You have a younger sibling, do you not?"

Ryou's intuition was spot on. "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"You simply seem like a good older brother. Better than me, anyway." He did not go into any further detail and briskly walked past Gen and opened the door to the freezer. "Well, I do not know about you, but I for one would rather not be in here any longer than I have to. Let us make this quick, shall we?"

As much as Gen wanted to know more about what Ryou was talking about, the stench of death served as a grim reminder that he was on the clock right now. The two men said nothing more to each other as they entered the freezer, leaving the door open to hopefully air the room out a little. Inside he could see Akuma and Kanon kneeling in the pool of blood around Yoko's corpse, still examining it. Aruna and Masuyo were checking around the freezer itself, but judging by Masuyo's face, they weren't finding anything helpful. " _They still seem to be looking over Yoko, I probably shouldn't disturb them."_

Aruna quickly waved down the two men and bounced on over to them. "Hello, also investigating in freezer room? Not as cold as Aruna imagine, still frosty on skin though!"

Ryou gave her a polite wave in return, but Gen couldn't quite muster one up for her. "Aruna, are you _seriously_ not bothered at all that Yoko is laying there dead right now?"

"It is special effects, yes? Very much in ways of the movies, Aruna sees lots of effort put into production." She tapped her foot in the blood pool a few times as if it were simply a puddle. "Body is realistic yes, blood could be using work. Very watery, Aruna thinks they cutting money costs at bad spot."

Ignoring how disgusting her playing in the blood was, Gen was curious about the blood being watery. He knelt down and stuck a finger in the puddle. Sure enough, it was very runny, practically just red water. " _Maybe some of the frost melted and mixed in with the blood, that could explain it."_

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **BLOOD PUDDLE**

* * *

"Gen, move your hand a little further in the blood, would you?" Ryou stood over him and pointed to a spot a few inches up from where Gen was looking. Gen obliged and ran his finger through the puddle, stopping when he hit something sharp.

"Fuck!" Gen jolted his hand out and quickly wrapped it in his cape. After nursing it for a few seconds he looked at his finger and was thankful that he didn't draw blood. The thought of someone else's blood mixing into his own grossed him out a little. "What was that?"

Aruna fished around in the blood pool and came out with a kitchen knife that was red all over. "Aruna not notice knife in blood! Good working Gen, Aruna could hurt Aruna with not careful if not for your looking!"

" _Well I'm glad one of us wasn't hurt!"_

"Sorry about that Gen, I had not realized it would be that sharp." Aruna handed Ryou the knife she was holding. He looked it over and nodded to himself a couple of times. "It seems we found our missing kitchen knife, and at the crime scene no less. I am convinced it has something to do with what transpired last night."

"But she didn't die from being cut or stabbed, and it'd be pretty hard to bash someone over the head with it, even if it's a big knife." Ryou simply handed the knife over to Gen so he could look at it himself. Even though it was still dripping with blood, he couldn't say for sure if it was used or not.

"It simply being found here is enough to consider it evidence. I am sure the purpose of it will become clear in due time." Ryou took the knife back and set it on one of the boxes in the room so it was out of the way. "Enough about the knife, we have more to investigate."

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET UPDATED  
KITCHEN KNIFE**

* * *

Gen agreed, there were more pressing matters to attend to, the knife wasn't going anywhere. He turned his focus over to Masuyo, who was digging around in one of the boxes. "Say Masuyo, find anything yet?"

"Unfortunately no, just more of the food we've been eating since we got here." She stopping rummaging through the goop, clearly disappointed. "I'm surprised honestly, it doesn't usually take me this long to find anything noteworthy."

"Perhaps you have already found something, but are not yet aware of it?" Both Gen and Masuyo weren't exactly sure what Ryou meant by that. "You were with Yoko yesterday, correct? When was the last time you saw her alive?"

"Oh yeah, that's a good point. Lemme think for a sec." Masuyo began pacing two steps in either direction, her expression morphing into one of deep concentration before stopping in a flash of inspiration. "I saw her quite a lot yesterday actually, I'm sure Momoko and Koharu can say the same. When I last saw her would have been around 7 PM. I don't know where she was after that."

"I see. Is anyone able to support your claim of seeing her at 7 PM?"

"Probably not, we were the only two around, nobody else was there." Masuyo was clearly aware of why that might be problematic if her sudden frown was anything to go off of.

Ryou stole one of Gen's sighs and shrugged. "Well that certainly harms the validity of this testimony."

"But it's still useful, isn't it? I mean, if she was alive at 7 PM, it could potential help narrow down our suspect list." Gen was willing to trust Masuyo, at least for now. They kind of needed all the evidence they could get.

"Well we can use it as a starting point, just do not be surprised if it becomes a contested topic."

"Figures. But I know I'm pretty trustworthy, so hopefully a certain someone doesn't make too much of a stink out of it." She wasn't being subtle at all, but knowing her she wasn't trying to be in the first place.

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **MASUYO'S ACCOUNT**

* * *

"Hey guys, if you want to come over here for a second, I have something to show you all." Akuma gathered everyone in the freezer over to Yoko's body. It was really hideous up close, and Gen really didn't want to look at it. Aruna on the other hand just seemed to have a childlike curiosity.

"Oh, you finding secret clue? Aruna is happy for you being so helpful!" Everyone aside from Kanon gave Aruna a side eyed glare of annoyance. Kanon was too invested in the corpse to care much about how jovial Aruna was being.

"Ignore her for now, mind telling us what you found?" Masuyo was starting to get a little impatient with standing around.

"I think I figured out exactly what killed her." Akuma put his hands on Yoko's head and turned it to face to group. It took all of Gen's strength not to vomit. "As you can see, her face is almost entirely unrecognizable. There is severe bruising and swelling, and her nose is completely broken. Even most of her teeth are shattered or laying loose in her mouth. I would ask that you direct your attention here." Akuma moved his hands to Yoko's neck and ran his fingers along another bruise.

"I see." Ryou seemed to understand what Akuma was trying to say before he even said it. "It would appear her assailant grabbed her by the neck, correct?"

"Yes, that's right." Akuma then removed his hands from the body and pointed to a blood spatter on the wall. "I think what happened was that the killer forced one of their hands around Yoko's neck, and another on the back of her head, and then repeatedly bashed her head face first against the wall."

" _This is beyond cruel."_ Gen was becoming increasingly unwell as these details emerged. Yoko had to have suffered immensely as she was dying. "Are you positive that's what happened?"

"Yes, and there's more. I think I'll let Kanon explain the rest." When her name was mentioned she didn't even look up. She simply picked up one of Yoko's arms and began speaking.

"Look at her arms… so many injuries." The amount of cuts and bruises on her arms was staggering. There were some everywhere else, but her arms were just covered in them. "Defensive wounds… and look at her balled up hands." Yoko's hands were formed into fists, probably from rigor mortis, but her knuckles did have blood on them as well. "She tried to fight back… didn't go so well."

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my autopsy." Akuma stood up, revealing just how bloodstained his pants were from kneeling in the blood. Kanon was still on the ground, combing over the body for any other possible evidence. "I'm surprised that the Monokuma File seems to be accurate, I was expecting some trickery from the warden. A small comfort…"

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **AKUMA'S ACCOUNT**

* * *

"Thank you Akuma, Kanon." Ryou gave the pair a polite nod in thanks of their efforts. "This will surely be very helpful in the coming trial. Would it be too much to ask that the both of you stay here to help anyone who comes to check out the body later?"

"Sure, leave it to me. My beautiful Kanon and I shall try to clear any doubts and misconceptions that some of the others may hold in regards to Yoko." Akuma gave a shaky thumbs up. He probably wanted to not be hanging around a dead body during the entire investigation, but he seemed willing enough, if only to help the others. Kanon on the other hand simply nodded while still searching Yoko.

"Great. Come along Gen, we have other areas to search." Ryou turned and started walking out of the freezer, Gen having to hurry along to not fall behind. He almost fell over, as did Ryou, when Masuyo ran past the two men.

"Gotta check things out for myself, later!" Before he knew it she was already out the kitchen and into the cafeteria. Judging from the sound of Shiro yelping and Jun laughing, it's safe to say she knocked him over on her way out.

Gen sighed. "She really needs to slow down a little." Ryou just nodded in agreement and the pair went into the cafeteria. Sure enough, Shiro was picking himself up off the floor. "Ya okay there buddy?"

"Ah y-yes, I'm uh, o-okay. Thanks for the c-concern…" Shiro and Jun were in the center of the room, with Jun choosing to sit on one of the tables that was overturned.

"Golly~! That Masuyo sure is a fast one~! Might wanna recruit her for my next game of tag~!" Jun was thankfully winding down on his laughing.

Ryou was not going to waste time, he cut straight to the point. "Jun, Shiro, have either of you found anything of note in the cafeteria?"

"N-No… sorry…" Shiro looked to the floor, eyes starting to water. "I-I knew I wouldn't be much help…"

"That's okay Shiro, no need to feel bad about it." The last thing Gen wanted right now was for Shiro to start crying, that would be hard to see. "What about you Jun? See anything interesting lying around?"

Jun shook his head side to side so fast Gen thought it was going to pop off. "Nooooope~!" He suddenly became much less animated, fiddling with his tie. "I know this might not be the best thing to say right now, buuuuuuuut I'm not all that good at this type of thing~!" Even though his was trying to laugh it off, Gen couldn't help but notice Jun was trembling slightly. He was probably trying his best to put on a brave face.

"Alright, nothing wrong with that. Perhaps you can be of use in another way." Ryou's words made Jun perk up a little, he hopped off his table and frolicked over to Ryou.

"Really~!? Oh goooooodie~! Lay it on me, what can good ole Jun do for you today~!?" Jun was getting a little close to Ryou, but the social worker stood his ground. Gen would have certainly backed up if he were in his position.

"This has to do with the party you had yesterday. Would you kindly tell us about it? The timing of your get together and that of the murder are rather close, it may be critical to establish who was in attendance."

"Well you should know, you were there you silly~!" Gen gave Ryou a quizzical look to which he simply smiled at in response.

"Yes I know, I am simply making it official, if you will. After all, it was your idea to hold a party in the first place. It is only proper you be the one to describe it." Ryou's words served to stroke Jun's ego, and the hyper lad happily went to describe his party.

"When you say it like thaaaaaat~! Okay, okay, listen up goooood~! So, I had all sorts of fun and games planned out for all you boys and girls to enjoy~! That vending machine really gives the darndest things I swear~! Everyone there had such a good time~! Let's see, it was your's truly, Ryou, Aruna, Kanon, Akuma, Shiro, and Koharu~! We partied hard from 6 to 11 PM~!"

"You are omitting a crucial detail." Jun seemed surprised by Ryou's blunt accusation. He also seemed a tad confused.

"Whaaaaaat~!? C'mon Ryou, if you know it, why don't you say it~!" Ryou just crossed his arms and tapped his foot. It was clear he wanted Jun to tell it himself. The party planner racked his brain to try and recall what is was that he was forgetting. He was thankfully saved by Shiro, which is good since poor Jun looked like he was about to short out from his attempt at remembering.

"Y-You mean how you and I left early, R-Ryou?" Ryou nodded twice in confirmation. Jun seemed to be hit with a sudden flash of recollection, jumping with his fist to the air.

"That's right~! Ryou and Shiro left about five minutes before the nighttime announcement~! I guess we were going at it pretty hard, they both said they needed to go to bed~!"

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **JUN'S PARTY**

* * *

" _So most of them have alibis for all night, except for Ryou and Shiro who left early."_ After doing a quick mental recap Gen turned to face Ryou. "Why were you so adamant about you guys leaving being known? The simple fact you left early casts some suspicion on both of you, you know?"

Even though he was addressing Ryou, it was Shiro who replied back to him. "G-Gen, d-do you t-think I d-did it!?" He was beginning to panic, and Gen felt bad for causing him unintended stress.

Ryou calmed him by answering for Gen. "No, you and I could not have done it. I shall show Gen why in a second." He began walking to the doors, motioning for Gen to follow him. They left Jun and Shiro behind in the cafeteria as they stepped into the hallway. "Remember the condition of the doors when you arrived here this morning."

"They were locked, right?" Gen had rattled the handle himself, so he could testify for sure that they were indeed locked tight.

"Exactly. Both doors to the cafeteria are locked during nighttime, or to be more exact, they are locked at 8 PM and do not open again until 6 AM. Shiro and I would not have had enough time to kill Yoko and cause such large scale devastation in a span of five minutes." Ryou had an air of perfect confidence around him. No wonder he did not mind his leaving early being open knowledge.

"I think I get it. Still, I have a feeling at least one or two people may try to argue that you could. It isn't _literally_ impossible after all." Gen's concern didn't seem to faze Ryou one bit. In fact, it seemed like Ryou had something else on his mind entirely.

"Gen, were you aware that the cafeteria doors locked at night before today?" It seemed a little random to Gen, but he answered anyway.

"No, I never noticed before. It's not like I had any reason to come here aside from breakfast."

"I see…"

"May I ask what that's all about?" Gen wished Ryou would speak his mind more freely and without having to be asked.

"Do you know if anyone else is aware of the doors locking?"

"Well Botan would know, right? He was with us today after all." Ryou nodded in agreement and added more himself.

"Yes, he would know. Aside from him, Umeko and Hayashi would be aware of it as well, they were present the other day when the doors opened." Gen figured he was referring to the breakfast they had yesterday. It would seem Umeko and Hayashi had gotten there much earlier than he did. "Can you think of anyone else who would know about the locked doors?"

"Not to my knowledge, no. Is this something that might be important?" Ryou didn't reply and simply kept a look of concentration. Gen sighed at how difficult he could be sometimes. " _I'll just take that as a yes then."_

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **CAFETERIA DOORS**

* * *

"We need to keep moving, who knows how long we have until the warden decides to end our investigation." Ryou already began walking away, Gen having once again to follow after him. "We should examine all of the rooms we have access to: the laundry room, the empty room, the lounge, and the storage room."

"Can I make a request?" Ryou halted and turned around to face Gen while he was talking. "Would it be alright if we looked in the laundry room first? There is something I'm hoping to confirm there."

"By all means." It was decided that the pair would target the laundry room first. They eventually found their way to it and opened the door, fining Chizuru sitting at one of the chairs inside.

"Oh my, what a surprise. My favorite _handsome_ man decided to pay me a visit." Chizuru leaned forward in her seat and rested her chin on her hands. "And he brought a friend. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We're investigating, unlike you." Gen was mildly annoyed that it looked like she wasn't doing anything.

"Come now _handsome_ , I'm merely taking a break. All I have left to do is visit our dearly departed, and I'll have seen all there is to see." If that were the case she might actually be ahead of them in their investigation.

"Okay. So…" Gen was wondering if she were upset with him for ignoring her last night. Her expression didn't give anything away, so it looked like he would have to ask himself. "You aren't mad about yesterday, are you?"

"Oh? Whatever would I be angry at you for, _handsome_?" Her small smile turned into a coy grin. It seems like she is going to make him spell it out.

"You remember. You asked to meet with me last night and I didn't show up."

Chizuru chuckled to herself and leaned back in her chair. "Ah yes, _that_. No worries my _handsome_ man, all is forgiven."

Gen was thinking that was a bit _too_ easy, he imagined her being much more ticked off at him. Ryou decided to butt in, Gen almost forgot he was listening. "You were here last night? Alone? Could you tell me about it?"

"There isn't much to tell. I was here, alone, from about 7 to 10 PM." She sounded almost bored with talking to Ryou. "No surprise visitors and no surprise occurrences. It was quite dull."

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **CHIZURU'S ACCOUNT**

* * *

"Thank you for your time." Ryou walked over to the door and held it open. "However, I think you have rested enough. We are on a strict schedule"

"It's not very polite to rush a woman you know." Ryou didn't seem to care that he was being impolite. "Give me just a moment with my _handsome_ man would you? _Alone_."

It didn't seem like Ryou was going to give her time alone with Gen. The racer had to wave him away before he reluctantly stepped out of the room. "Okay, what is it? Gonna chew me out now that know one'll see it?"

"I was just checking up on you, _handsome_. You seemed so distraught over Yoko's death. Are you feeling alright?" Her sudden interest in his well being caught Gen off guard.

"I'd think anyone would be shocked over the loss of a friend." It would seem Chizuru was now the one being surprised.

"Friend? You jest. The two of you were as opposite as opposites get." Chizuru adjusted herself in her seat so she was sitting straight, locking eyes with Gen. "I bet you are actually glad she's gone, aren't you?"

"No!" Gen didn't mean to shout at her, he was just frustrated with the situation and it got the best of him. Chizuru said nothing as she waited for him to elaborate. "I mean, yeah, we kinda fought a few times, but still…" Gen flashed back once again to the scene in the freezer, her body fresh in his mind. "If things were different, who knows? We could have buried the hatchet and started over. It's a little late for that now, but I still think of her as a friend, in a way."

Chizuru, still silent, got out of her chair and wordlessly walked to the door. Before she walked out, she turned back and spoke to him one last time. "It seems I need to reevaluate you, Gen." Chizuru opened the door and left, allowing Ryou to come back in.

Ryou didn't pry into what they discussed, surprisingly. He simply returned to the investigation at hand and motioned for Gen to do the same. He began observing the room, but his mind was elsewhere. " _Friends huh? Wonder why I said all that. Still, it could have been interesting to see…"_

"Gen, please come over here." Ryou was in front of one of the washing machines that he had opened up. "What do you make of this?"

"It looks like… a makeup kit?" Inside the washing machine was a decorated red box that had its contents spilling out of it. Gen could see nail polish, hair dye, eyeliner, and all other sorts of beauty products one would expect to find in a makeup kit. "Why would this be here? Where did it even come from?"

"Why indeed." Ryou closed the washing machine and leaned against it, thinking. "It most likely originated in the storage room, perhaps we may find a clue there."

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **MAKEUP KIT**

* * *

"Then the storage room it is." Gen lead the way to the storage room, Ryou following close behind him. Inside they found Hayashi and Umeko. They were hardly working together, it was more like Umeko was trying to hide from Hayashi. "Alright what's going on here? Anything interesting?"

"There ain't one fucking thing to see here." Hayashi stormed over to the two newcomers, clearly angry, as usual. "So just beat it, would ya? You're getting in my fucking way."

"If we are getting in your way, does that mean there _is_ something to see here?" Ryou wasn't bothered in the slightest by Hayashi's aggressive behavior.

"No you shit for brains, there isn't. So beat it, before I beat you!" Hayashi's antics made Gen chuckled to himself, which served to infuriate Hayashi even more. "What's so funny tough guy? You sure sound eager for an ass kicking!"

"You wanting to beat me off aside, it's just hilarious how stupid you're acting over this."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean!? You think you can take me!?" Hayashi seemed one remark away from losing it and trying to beat Gen to a bloody pulp.

"Calm down, I'm just saying that you really shouldn't stop us from being here." Gen sighed. He really should have known better than to egg on Hayashi. In the future he would have to choose his words better.

"I'm doing this outta the kindness of my heart, I tell ya." Hayashi cracked his knuckles against his chin and walked right up to Gen, their faces inches apart. "There ain't anything to see here, so I'm trying to help you not waste your time. Really, you should be thanking me, I'm rarely so benevolent." His tone of voice made it clear he was still insisting that they leave, not like Gen would buy even for a second that Hayashi was doing something to be nice.

Before Gen could stick his foot in his mouth, Ryou intervened. "We can decide what is or is not worth our time on our own, thank you very much. We will continue our investigation here, in the storage room, with or without your consent. I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to halt our progress."

Hayashi glared dagger at the two of them for several seconds before he stomped over to one of the storage room doors. "Tch, asshole. I'm not going to forget this." He made sure to slam the door behind him.

" _What's his deal? I know he's usually an ass, but that seemed a bit aggressive, even for him."_ Gen was interrupted from his thoughts by Umeko walking over to them. He had almost forgotten she was there.

"Thank goodness that creep finally left, I thought for sure he was gonna kill me!" She must have also been a target of Hayashi's wrath.

"Umeko, Hayashi mention that there was nothing of note in this room. Do you agree with this statement?" Umeko shrugged at Ryou's question.

"I'm not sure. I got here before he did and went to check out this crate over here," She pointed to a wooden box that was conspicuously resting in the center of the floor. "Then he barged in and chased me away! What a psycho!"

"Wonder why he'd care about a box so much." Gen walked over to the crate and peered in it. There was nothing inside of it oddly enough, it was completely empty. "There isn't even anything in it. What's the big deal?"

"Gen, could you lift that box up for a second? I want to check something." Gen did as asked and lifted the crate off the floor. He had to stretch his arms to get a secure grip, the box was rather large. It was much heavier than it looked, and he could only bring it a foot up before it became unwieldy. "That is enough, you can set it down."

"Geez, that things weighs a ton." Gen set it down right where he picked it up. "Well not a real ton, prolly closer to 75 pounds, but you get what I mean."

"So it is heavy then? That may help explain the scratches on the floor beneath it." Ryou walked over to the box and tried to lift it himself to confirm what Gen had said. "Yes, it is certainly hefty."

"Guys, not to derail your conversation, but do either of ya know about that?" Umeko directed the duo to gaze above them. On the third level of the storage room, the guardrail seemed damaged in one section. More accurately, one part of it was bent away, making it incredibly unsafe. "It wasn't broke like that when I was here last time."

"A broken rail and a mysterious crate? It's interesting, but I'm not sure how it's all related to the case." Gen honestly had no idea how any of this could possibly connect to Yoko's death.

"It does seem rather irrelevant. That may also be exactly what we need to help find our killer." Ryou was, like last time, not elaborating on what he meant. Gen sighed, to him it really didn't seem important in the slightest, but he was willing to trust Ryou on this matter.

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **HEAVY CRATE**

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **BROKEN GUARDRAIL**

* * *

"Well that wraps things up here, I think. C'mon Ryou, let's take a gander in the vending machine room, might be something there." Ryou nodded and the two waved goodbye to Umeko before leaving. When they got to the empty room they found it was not quite empty. Momoko was there, along with a few odds and ends on the floor. "Hey Momoko."

"Oh hey hey! Say, you guys know what the deal is with all this junk?" On the floor around her was some items that presumably came from the vending machine. Gen could see a tin of anchovies, a soccer ball, a calculator, and a pair of socks, among numerous other things. "It wasn't here when I initially checked this place out, why is it here now?"

"I can shed some light on the matter." Ryou went over and started picking up the items on the floor. "Jun went to fetch more things for his party quite a number of times over the course of the night. I imagine he was just clumsy and did not bother to take it all with him." Ryou had piled all the discarded prizes into a corner of the room, out of the way.

"Wait, why'd he come here to get new toys? There's nothing in here." It made sense she was unaware of the room's true intent, it's not like she was ever around Jun for him to explain it to her.

"Oh yeah, this room is like a vending machine. See, if you take a coin and insert it into the wall, you get a prize." Gen noticed that the horse head on a broomstick was in the newly made pile of junk, crushing some poor condiment bottles under it.

"Coins? I haven't seen any coins, and I've checked this place out to heck and back!" Momoko eyed Gen, as if she were trying to see if he were lying to her or not.

"That's because Jun took them all for himself before anyone else had the chance to find them." Momoko gave a pout and crossed her arms.

"Well that's awfully selfish of him. He should of left some for me!"

"Jun's hoarding tendencies aside, I do not see anything out of the ordinary here." Ryou had finished his quick clean up and went over to Gen and Momoko. "You were around Yoko yesterday, were you not? Do you remember anything at all that may assist in pointing to her killer?"

"Yeah, I saw her a lot. Masuyo and Koharu did too, and they could tell you better than me about what she was doing." She seemed mildly irritated when she had to remember their meetings. "Yoko thankfully was able to partly keep that dotard Masuyo on a leash. She has my gratitude for that, the she-beast was waiting for a chance to pounce on me, I'm sure of it."

"But nothing seemed out of place to you? She wasn't talking to anyone she didn't normally, or she didn't go anywhere suspicious?" Gen ignored her jabs at Masuyo, their kerfuffle could only serve to waste time.

"To my knowledge, no. The only one I saw her with was Masuyo." Momoko gave a light giggle and did a small hop over to the door. "Golly, I sure hope she's the one who killed her, that would be some real poetic justice!"

"Hey! Don't say-" She was already out the door, giggling to herself at her own sick humor. "Tch, shit like that ain't funny."

"I understand that you are upset with her, but do not let it cloud your perception. We need to have clear, unbiased minds for the coming ordeal, something she clearly is lacking." Ryou walked past Gen and made for the door himself. "No point standing around here, let us check the lounge next."

"Yeah, sounds good." They left and made for their final stop, only to run into Botan in the hallway unexpectedly. "Oh Botan, how's your investigation going?"

Botan was about to ignore them and walk right on by if Gen hadn't stepped directly into his path. "I'm not obligated to share any of my findings with you. For all I know, one of you could be the killer."

"If you honestly consider one of us the killer, you can not have very many finding to speak of in the first place." Ryou's words did not seem to upset Botan, they just made him smirk.

"Clever play. Unfortunately for you, I'm not simple minded enough to be goaded so easily into divulging all of my discoveries." It was Ryou's turn to give a smirk.

"If not any discoveries, perhaps some observations? I am sure you have noticed an unusual aspect or two about this case, and your speculative thinking is hardly going to give us an edge over you in the trial, is it?" Botan thought about it for several moments before nodding his head.

"Very well. But remember that this is just a theory, don't hold me to it. Also, I hate repeating myself, so listen good, I'm not wasting time by saying it again." Gen backed away to give Botan some more space. "The first thing that struck me as odd was the crime scene itself. It was all over the place and far more disastrous than it had any reason to be."

"Maybe the killer simply wasn't prepared for Yoko to struggle as much as she did? They may have seen her as an easy target and got more than they bargained for." Gen's reply was met with a simple nod from Botan.

"Possibly, but even so, there really is no justification for their fight lasting so long. Going from the cafeteria to the kitchen is one thing, but then into the freezer as well? This is the work of an amateur."

"So you think it's someone who isn't used to killing? That could explain away how messy the crime scene is." This time Botan laughed at Gen, much to his confusion.

"Wrong. This level of unprofessionalism could only be the work of a seasoned veteran, of that I am sure." Gen wasn't sure at all how he came to that conclusion, but he appeared to be alone in thinking that. Ryou seemed to understand what Botan meant perfectly.

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **BOTAN'S THEORY**

* * *

"Then it seems we are dealing with a crafty opponent. The trial may be more hairy than I had initially planned for." There was a moment of silence before Botan broke it with his footsteps. "Where are you going?"

"Isn't it obvious? I've wasted enough time on idle chatter with you two. Our time could be up at any second and I still have things I need to see." Botan continued walking away, only to stop when Ryou called out to him.

"Before you go I have one last question. You said the first thing that bothered you was the crime scene. Are we to take it there is a second thing that bothered you?" Gen didn't even notice that himself, thank goodness he had Ryou with him.

"Hmph, yes there is." Botan went back to walking away, speaking while doing so. "Ask yourself, why was Yoko in the cafeteria in the first place? It may be important." He rounded a corner and was out of sight just as he finished speaking.

"Why she was there? I suppose that's something we should consider." While he may have said that, Gen had no way of knowing for sure what she was doing in the cafeteria. They found no evidence to provide a reason, and none of the other inmates shed any light on it either. "Well, I'm sure we can deduce it later. The lounge is next, yeah?"

"Yes. After we are done in the lounge we will have hit all points of interest." They made their way to their final destination for the investigation. The lounge clearly showed signs that a party was held a short time ago. Jun didn't clean up after himself, so all the things he brought over were strewn about everywhere. "I know all this clutter might make it difficult, but do keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious."

"Aye aye sir." Gen got to work on sifting through all the miscellaneous goods obscuring the floor. None of it was remarkable or really stood out in any way. After several minutes of searching, Gen figured he deserved a little break and sat down on the couch. It was not nearly as comfortable as he remembered it being, it felt like there was something hard under the cushion. He lifted up the cushion and finally found the evidence that he was so desperately looking for. "Ryou, check this out."

Gen had pulled out a rolling pin from under the couch cushion. It was a wooden pin that was cracked at one end, with bloodstains very visible on it. "Good work Gen. If not for your laziness, I do not think we would have discovered this piece of evidence."

Gen could tell Ryou meant it as a playful joke, or at least he hoped that's how he meant it. "But what's it doing here? Seems kinda out of the way, don't you think?"

"Perhaps the killer sought to hide their murder weapon in a hard to discover location?" Ryou took the rolling pin and looked it over before setting it back on the couch. "The bloodstains alone are enough to consider this vital to our case. We should keep it in mind for the trial, it may lead to a breakthrough."

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **ROLLING PIN**

* * *

" _That's everywhere I'd think to look accounted for. What's next I wonder?"_ Gen didn't have to wonder for very long, a deafening chime knocked him right out of his thoughts.

 ***BING* *BONG* *DING* *DONG***

The static screeching of the intercoms was enough to inform Gen of what was to come. He braced himself for the annoying voice that was to follow. "Alright, I'm bored. You guys really aren't all that interesting when you're being novice sleuths. I'm pulling the plug on your investigation period, it's now officially over! All inmates are to report to the courtyard ASAP! Don't keep me waiting!"

The screeching cut out and the warden was again absent. "We had better not keep him waiting, who knows what he may do if we are tardy." Gen agreed with him and they both left the lounge to head to the courtyard. They were not the first to arrive, Koharu, Hanami, Hayashi, Masuyo, and Chizuru were already there, waiting around.

Koharu noticed Gen and Ryou come in and walked over to them. "Sup my fellow pink haired friend, you turn up any helpful shit out there?"

"Yeah, I hope so anyway." Ryou had walked away from them and began a discussion with Masuyo over something. Gen wasn't about to eavesdrop on them, so he just figured he'd chat with Koharu until the others got here. "What about you? Did Hanami help you find some clues?"

"Heck yeah she did. For being such a little thing, she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty." Gen saw Botan, Momoko, and Umeko walk in out of the corner of his eye while Koharu was talking. "She's a natural born trash panda, prolly found more shit than I did!"

"Is that right?" Gen really wished Koharu had stopped her from digging in the garbage, who knows what unsanitary items may be lurking in the trash. "Anything else happen? Any detours?"

"Eh, not really. I mean, we stopped by her room so she could swap out one of her arm warmers, but after that we just hit all the places like normal." Akuma, Aruna, Jun, and Shiro walked in at this time, with Akuma standing notably close to Aruna's backside.

"Wait, why'd you go to her room? Did it get dirty or something?" It was reasons like that which made digging in garbage even less appealing.

"Naw, not dirty, wet. Apparently she leaned into the sink while we were in the kitchen and got water on herself."

" _The sink had some water still in it? Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?"_

* * *

 **TRUTH BULLET ACQUIRED**

 **WET SINK**

* * *

The two talked for several minutes before being interrupted by a complaining Hayashi. "Alright, what's taking that freaky death bitch so long!? I'm sick and tired of waiting like an ass!"

Gen looked around and saw that Kanon was indeed the only one who had yet to arrive. Akuma spoke up and explained. "About that, she requested some alone time with Yoko. Something about seeing her off. I figured it would be fine."

"Yeah, well I think she's had plenty of time to play with the corpse. Go back and fetch her stupid ass so we can get this bullshit over with!" As if right on cue, Kanon walked in. Her lower half was drenched in blood from kneeling in the pool all this time. Paired with her vacant stare, she looked like she'd be right at home in a horror flick. "About fucking time."

"Sorry it took so long… there were… complications…" A rumbling sound reverberated in the courtyard and the ground itself began to shake. Those mingling in the center quickly backed away as the ground opened up and a metal box rose up. The box opened, begging the inmates to come inside. "Oh hey… an elevator…"

None of the students wanted to make the first move. They all stared at the elevator, waiting to see if someone else would go first. Chizuru took one look around and decided to walk inside, hoping to hurry everyone else up. "Come along everyone, the curtains are about to rise on our courtroom performance! We wouldn't want to keep our audience of one waiting, would we?"

One by one they entered the elevator. Gen was the last to go in, the door automatically shutting behind him. With a sound of metal screeching on metal, the elevator began its descent into the unknown. Everyone looked at each other with suspicion and distrust as they plunged further and further into the abyss.

" _All right, it's showtime!"_

* * *

 **AN: That is, as they say, all she wrote. Holy heck this turned out so much longer than I thought it would, I hope it's still of my usual quality!**

 **I want to know: Who do you think is the killer? I've posted a poll on my profile, so please vote there and/or leave your idea in the reveiws! I have a feeling it's either really obvious or really going to come out of left field. Oh well, I suppose I'll just wait and see.**

 **As usual, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave them in a review!**


	11. Chapter 1 Trial I

**AN: Soooo sorry that this took so long to get out. Honestly, I restarted this chapter like four times because I didn't like how it turned out. Probably could have finished two weeks ago, but me being who I am, I just couldn't settle for how it was. I think I did an okay job at this trial segment, but it's my first time, so expect a few rough patches here and there. Well, on to the review replies!**

 **Glass-Lady-Of-The-Opera: You ain't sure who's the killer huh? I can take that as I either did a good job or a bad job. Well, you still might not figure it out this chapter, but hopefully by the next one it's fairly clear!**

 **liammaerklh88: Well I tried to keep it simple, can't say it was really brilliant, but thank you! Can't really comment on your bullet analysis, cause spoilers, but I'm glad you liked it. Also, I may or may not have took how you did your trials and applied it here. You know what they say, imitation is the height of flattery!**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: First rule is that your favorites always die. A sad fact of life here. Glad you're looking forward to it, sorry it took so long!**

 **aWasTooShort: I'd be careful about touching our good pal Hayashi. Might end with a broken nose and missing teeth. Feel free to post theories, I'd love to read them!**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: Thanks for the words! Yeah, Gen makes it pretty clear who his close circle is, but I'm glad to see you think it's a good thing and not a detraction from the others. I wish I could comment on your thoughts, but alas, it might spoil.**

 **mayurie: We both lazy, it's cool. Glad to see I got you thinking about this, it really could be anyone's game at this point. Maybe you'll figure it out soonish?**

 **Before we begin, here's the Truth Bullets for easy reference.**

 **01 - Monokuma File No. 01 -** The body was discovered shortly after the morning announcement in the kitchen freezer. The cause of death is severe blunt force trauma to the head. In addition, there are also numerous other cuts and bruises on her body. Several of her bones suffered fractures and breaks. Death was long, drawn out, and very, very painful.

 **02 - Cleaning Supplies -** There were various bottles of cleaners in the kitchen that only showed signs of slight use.

 **03 - Kitchen Knife -** A knife was missing from the kitchen. It was later found hidden in the puddle of blood in the freezer.

 **04 - Akuma's Account -** Many of the wounds on Yoko's corpse were defensive in nature. Additionally, it is very likely the finishing blow was when the killer bashed her head against the wall.

 **05 - Masuyo's Account -** Yoko was last seen alive approximately an hour before nighttime. No one is able to verify this information.

 **06 - Blood Puddle -** The pool of blood in the freezer has been diluted with melted frost.

 **07 - Jun's Party -** Jun, Koharu, Kanon, Akuma and Aruna were in the lounge from about 6 PM to until 11 PM. Ryou and Shiro were also present, but left about 5 minutes before the nighttime announcement.

 **08 - Cafeteria Doors -** The doors to the cafeteria are locked during nighttime. Gen tested the handle before the morning announcement to make sure. Those who know the doors lock would be Gen and Botan as of today, and Umeko and Hayashi as of yesterday. Ryou has known for quite some time.

 **09 - Chizuru's Account -** Chizuru claims to have been in the laundry room from 7 PM to 10 PM. According to her, nobody entered the laundry room during this time.

 **10 - Makeup Kit -** A makeup kit was found stuffed into one of the washing machines in the laundry room. More than likely, it came from the storage room.

 **11 - Heavy Crate -** A box in the storage room that was sitting in the middle of the floor. It was empty, but still weighed roughly 75lbs. The ground underneath is scuffed.

 **12 - Broken Guardrail -** The guardrail on the third level of the storage room was destroyed in one section.

 **13 - Botan's Theory -** To him, the murder seemed very amateurish. Almost too much so.

 **14 - Rolling Pin -** A bloodied rolling pin was found stuffed into the couch cushions in the lounge.

 **15 - Wet Sink -** The kitchen sink had a small amount of water in it. This is the only sink seen thus far.

* * *

After what felt like far too long, the elevator doors opened to reveal the grand trial room where their fates would be decided. The walls were lined with a dark wood and red fabric. Gen saw sixteen podiums arranged in a circle with nameplates at each of them. There was also a seat for a judge in the back of the room, a tv currently occupying it. The tv blared to life as the warden appeared on it, excited at the inmates arrival. "Puhuhu! Isn't this exciting? Isn't this nostalgic? Oh how long it's been since I felt this rush!"

"Shut up so we can get this over with." Botan walked in stride out of the elevator, the rest of the inmates following shortly after him. "Spit it out, I don't have all day."

"Puhuhu, I like that enthusiasm! Alrighty, all inmates please head to your assigned podiums so we can begin!" Gen didn't have to walk very far as his podium was conveniently straight across from the elevator. Eventually everyone found their designated spots and looked around at each other. Starting from Gen's right they were arranged as follows: Hanami, Momoko, an empty spot, Aruna, Hayashi, Kanon, Akuma, Jun, Umeko, Masuyo, Ryou, Botan, Shiro, Koharu, Chizuru, and then back to Gen.

"Why is empty spot next to Aruna? Aruna thinks it not good using of space." She pointed to the podium next to her which was devoid of any person.

"Well that's where our dearly departed would be standing if they were still with us! It's not like I can plan for which of you losers bites it first, so I had to make sure everyone had a possible place to stand!" It made sense that there would be room for Yoko, though it just served to remind everyone how she was gone. "Anyway, enough prattling! I declare that court is now in session!"

Chizuru leaned forward at her podium and gave a wink to Gen. "C'mon now, the stage is set handsome. Let's see how well you can keep up an act." Gen wasn't sure if she was mocking him or encouraging him, so he simply gave a slight nod to show he heard her. He didn't have time to let her distract him after all.

" _This is it. The battle to find Yoko's killer begins now. I don't want to believe it could be someone here, but the situation doesn't permit me such wishful thinking. Someone here killed her, and in such a savage and barbaric manner. We were never the best of pals, but I swear to you Yoko, I will bring you justice!"_

* * *

 **COURT IS NOW IN SESSION**

 **ALL RISE!**

* * *

 **MONOKUMA:** Now then, let's begin with a simple explanation of the trial!

 **MONOKUMA:** You are all going to debate back and forth about who you think the blackened is.

 **MONOKUMA:** At the end of the proceedings, you will vote on who you think the blackened is.

 **MONOKUMA:** If you vote correctly, only the blackened will receive punishment.

 **MONOKUMA:** However, if you vote incorrectly, then the blackened will receive a pardon.

 **MONOKUMA:** They will be free to leave while the rest of you get punished!

 **MONOKUMA:** That's all you need to know! So get to it and start arguing!

 **MOMOKO:** Before we begin, I would like to confirm something.

 **MOMOKO:** The killer is absolutely positively one of us, yes?

 **MOMOKO:** I would hate to waste my time if that weren't the case.

 **MONOKUMA:** Sure enough sugar! Not like there's anyone else around who could have done it!

 **AKUMA:** What about you? You could have done it with some elaborate setup.

 **MONOKUMA:** I'm a bear on a screen, how would I do that?

 **MONOKUMA:** Besides, I have better things to do than murder you brats.

 **SHIRO:** S-So it really is one of us, huh?

 **BOTAN:** Undoubtably.

 **SHIRO:** O-Oh. I-I was really hoping it wasn't…

 **ARUNA:** So we should beginning trial games soon? Much boring by not doing debating.

 **UMEKO:** You sure live in quite the fantasy land, don'tcha?

 **RYOU:** Might I suggest our first topic?

 **HAYASHI:** Who died and made you leader?

 **RYOU:** My apologies. By all means, please start us off Hayashi.

 **HAYASHI:** Pft, like I'd bother with that.

 **MASUYO:** Lead on Ryou, he's clearly inept at doing so.

 **HAYASHI:** Why you-

 **RYOU:** Very well. Let us begin by discussing Yoko's body.

 **KOHARU:** Her body? Why?

 **RYOU:** It is important to establish the basics before moving on to more complicated matters.

 **CHIZURU:** Then the body it is.

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Monokuma File No. 01 | Kitchen Knife | Blood Puddle | Rolling Pin**

 **KOHARU:** Yoko was found dead **in the freezer** this morning.

 **ARUNA:** Yes, much blood to be seen in around herself.

 **MASUYO:** Yeah, and there was a knife nearby too.

 **JUN:** Oh~! Maybe **that's what killed her** ~!

 **SHIRO:** I-It could have been…

 **BOTAN:** Are you two for real right now?

 **GEN:** _I know they didn't look over the file, but come on…_

 **BULLET FIRED: Monokuma File No. 01**

 **GEN:** No that's wrong!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** Sorry Jun, but Yoko didn't die from being stabbed.

 **JUN** : Whaaaaat~!? She didn't~!?

 **GEN:** No, the Monokuma File clearly states the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

 **JUN:** Oh really~!? I didn't even notice~! I didn't look at it you see~!

 **HAYASHI:** Even I read that you dumbass!

 **HANAMI:** How irresponsible…

 **KANON:** ...Not serious at all…

 **JUN:** Oof~! No bullying you guys~!

 **AKUMA:** Alright, we've established she died from head trauma. What next?

 **UMEKO:** I'd like to know about what _did_ kill her.

 **UMEKO:** The file didn't say what weapon the killer used, did it?

 **AKUMA:** I think I can-

 **MOMOKO:** Nope! That part seems to have been totally omitted!

 **AKUMA:** If I may-

 **ARUNA:** Ah, should be talking about murder weapon. Aruna thinks it helpful.

 **AKUMA:** Can I-

 **BOTAN:** The murder weapon? Yes, let's talk about that.

 **AKUMA:** Are you all-

 **KOHARU:** Okay, time to find out what done her in!

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Akuma's Account | Masuyo's Account | Chizuru's Account**

 **AKUMA:** It really isn't-

 **JUN:** The knife is **not the murder weapon** ~!

 **HANAMI:** Yeah, we know…

 **AKUMA:** I can say-

 **UMEKO:** Was it _**something in the freezer**_ that killed her?

 **HAYASHI:** What's gonna kill her in there?

 **HAYASHI:** Must of been _**something in the kitchen**_!

 **AKUMA:** No, it was actually-

 **SHIRO:** I-If only _**someone knew what killed her**_ …

 **KANON:** Yeah, if only...

 **AKUMA:** I give up.

 **GEN:** _Hm… they might be onto something with that. If only Akuma would stop interrupting…_

 **BULLET FIRED: Akuma's Account**

 **GEN:** I agree with that!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** Shiro!

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yes!?

 **GEN:** I think there is someone who can tell us how Yoko was killed.

 **CHIZURU:** And pray tell, who is this person?

 **GEN:** Akuma, naturally. He can tell us all about the condition of Yoko's body.

 **MOMOKO:** Is that right Akuma?

 **AKUMA:** Well of course it is!

 **ARUNA:** Why then keeping quiet? Speaking sooner to save us trouble next time.

 **AKUMA:** But that's what I was trying to say!

 **MASUYO:** Save the excuses for later, just tell us how she died.

 **AKUMA:** Like you two don't know.

 **MASUYO:** Well then hurry it up and say it for the others who don't know it!

 **AKUMA:** Fine, fine. Okay guys, this is my theory on what killed poor Yoko.

 **AKUMA:** I think the murder weapon was actually the wall in the freezer.

 **JUN:** A wall~!? As a murder weapon~!? Say it ain't so~!

 **RYOU:** Please let him finish.

 **AKUMA:** As I was saying, it seems that the wall was used to kill her.

 **AKUMA:** Her face suffered several blows, clearly from repeated attacks.

 **AKUMA:** Paired with the bloodstains on the wall behind her, I think I'm right about this.

 **HAYASHI:** And how could you tell all that from some fucking bloodstains!?

 **KANON:** The blood smeared down the wall as she fell. I found bits of skin in it…

 **UMEKO:** Ew! I didn't need to know that!

 **AKUMA:** Well, the point is that most of her head injuries were to her face.

 **BOTAN:** How unfortunate that this 'weapon' fails to point us toward the killer.

 **KOHARU:** Yeah? Why's that?

 **CHIZURU:** Because anyone could have grabbed her and inflicted those injuries?

 **BOTAN:** Indeed. Talking about the corpse seems to be a dead end.

 **MOMOKO:** Oh, so we did waste our time by discussing it.

 **RYOU:** No, not necessarily. We have cleared up misconceptions around her body.

 **RYOU:** I think that is a good use of our time.

 **MOMOKO:** Maybe yours, but my time's a little more valuable than that.

 **GEN:** Maybe we should talk about something else instead.

 **MASUYO:** I agree, we're going nowhere fast like this.

 **ARUNA:** And what talking should we be doing about?

 **GEN:** _Hm, something else that could be relevant. I think we should…_

* * *

 **MULTIPLE CHOICE**

A. Talk about the body.

 **{B. Go over alibis.}**

C. Discuss the murder weapon.

D. Debate the crime scene.

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** Maybe we should shift gears to talk about our alibis.

 **SHIRO:** O-Our alibis?

 **GEN:** Yes that's right. We should be able to cross a few of us off the suspect list this way.

 **MOMOKO:** But for what time frame do we need an alibi?

 **MOMOKO:** Our so-called 'useful' Monokuma File doesn't list a time of death.

 **BOTAN:** Speaking of, why is that Monokuma?

 **MONOKUMA:** No reason! Nope! None whatsoever! I'm just keeping it fair for everyone!

 **HANAMI:** It's hardly fair when you withhold information…

 **MONOKUMA:** Puhuhuhu!

 **BOTAN:** Let's just ignore that buffoon for now.

 **CHIZURU:** Yes, it's more important that we get this alibi business out of the way.

 **GEN:** _This issue is that we need to know when our alibis matter._

 **GEN:** _Knowing when Yoko was still alive is the first step._

* * *

 **SELECT EVIDENCE**

 **MASUYO'S ACCOUNT**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** We should look into where everyone was after 7 PM.

 **UMEKO:** That sure is one specific time you have there. Why 7 PM?

 **GEN:** Because we know that Yoko was not dead at 7 PM. We have a witness.

 **KOHARU:** Oh? Who's this witness?

 **MASUYO:** That would be me. The two of us talked at 7 before going our separate ways.

 **MOMOKO** : Oh great, you.

 **MASUYO:** What's that supposed to mean?

 **MOMOKO:** Tell me, was anyone else around when you had your conversation?

 **MASUYO:** No, we were alone in the empty room.

 **MOMOKO:** Uh-huh. So why should we believe a word you say?

 **KOHARU:** Here we go again.

 **MASUYO:** Because I have no reason to lie.

 **HAYASHI:** But if you were the killer you could be lying to throw us off.

 **MOMOKO:** Exactly. Without anyone backing you up, your claim just falls apart!

 **CHIZURU:** I saw them.

 **MOMOKO:** You did!?

 **MASUYO:** You did…?

 **CHIZURU:** That's right. I witnessed them going into the empty room together.

 **CHIZURU:** They closed the door behind them, but I know they were there at 7.

 **MASUYO:** There! Told you I wasn't lying!

 **MOMOKO:** …

 **JUN:** So we can for sure say she was alive at 7 PM~!

 **UMEKO:** So we need to know where everybody was from 7 to until she was found?

 **UMEKO:** That's quite a long time!

 **RYOU:** Thankfully we can narrow it down some more.

 **KANON:** ...We can?

 **RYOU:** That is correct. Gen, would you kindly present the evidence to back my claim?

 **GEN:** Yeah, I suppose I could do that.

 **GEN:** _And why couldn't you do it yourself?_

 **GEN:** _Evidence that narrows down our time frame. It could only be…_

* * *

 **SELECT EVIDENCE**

 **CAFETERIA DOORS**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** You're talking about how the doors to the cafeteria lock a nighttime, right?

 **RYOU:** Indeed.

 **ARUNA:** Doors to eatery shut at darkness? Aruna wasn't knowing of this fact.

 **MOMOKO:** I didn't know about this either. Is it really true?

 **BOTAN:** Yes it is. I can vouch for that.

 **UMEKO:** I found out about it too.

 **GEN:** As you see, it is impossible for anyone to enter the cafeteria after 8 PM.

 **CHIZURU:** Then it looks like we need to establish alibis for the time between 7 and 8 PM.

 **JUN:** And then we'll find our killer for sure~!

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Masuyo's Account | Jun's Party | Makeup Kit | Rolling Pin**

 **KOHARU:** So, where was everyone between 7 and 8?

 **JUN:** I was hosting a party at that time~!

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah, a lot of us were there…

 **MOMOKO:** Uh-huh. And who is 'a lot of us'?

 **JUN:** **Me and Shiro** for starters!

 **AKUMA:** **I was also there**.

 **AKUMA:** As were the **lovely miss Kanon and the gorgeous miss Aruna**.

 **RYOU:** **Koharu and I** were the only other people present.

 **MASUYO:** I guess that means **none of them could have done it**.

 **HANAMI:** I was with Gen.

 **CHIZURU:** You were?

 **HANAMI:** Yup. **We were in my room together**.

 **HAYASHI:** And I thought I was fucked up in the head...

 **GEN:** _It's not like I want to point this out, but if I don't do it now, it might cause trouble later._

 **BULLET FIRED: Jun's Party**

 **GEN:** No, that's wrong!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** It isn't technically impossible for them to have done it.

 **MASUYO:** How so? You aren't gonna say that they're all in on it and killed her together, are you?

 **GEN:** No, nothing that silly. It's just that not all of them were there the whole time.

 **MASUYO:** Really?

 **RYOU:** Indeed. Both myself and Shiro left approximately five minutes before the doors would close.

 **HAYASHI:** So he as good as admits it!

 **SHIRO:** But I didn't kill anyone!

 **HAYASHI:** Yeah? And I'm a patron saint.

 **SHIRO:** H-How unexpected!

 **HANAMI:** He's totally joking…

 **RYOU:** It is worth mentioning that it is doubtful either of us could have done it.

 **MOMOKO:** I see. You think it would be impossible to commit the crime in a five minute window.

 **BOTAN:** I would have to agree.

 **BOTAN:** There is no way someone did all that in five minutes.

 **KOHARU:** Yeah, it takes a minute to even walk over there from the lounge.

 **KANON:** Four minutes for all that? Wow…

 **HAYASHI:** Could have just been a quick in and out! You can't say it wasn't!

 **GEN:** Considering how everything looked, it's pretty clear the killer was there for a good while.

 **JUN:** Well how about that~! They don't suspect you anymore Shiro~! Congrats~!

 **SHIRO:** I-I can't really feel too good about that, you know…

 **ARUNA:** So who in all isn't on the listing for suspects now?

 **AKUMA:** Well everyone at the party still is in the clear it seems.

 **KOHARU:** That's me, Akuma, Aruna, Kanon, Ryou, Shiro, and Jun.

 **HANAMI:** I was with Gen, so we're innocent…

 **KANON:** And that leaves six…

 **GEN:** Hayashi, Botan, Umeko, Chizuru, Masuyo, and Momoko.

 **SHIRO:** S-So is the killer one of them!?

 **JUN:** Ooooh, could beeeee~!

 **KOHARU:** Save that type of talk until it's proven, 'kay?

 **HAYASHI:** Besides, I didn't kill anyone!

 **MOMOKO:** Really? From you, that is very hard to believe.

 **HAYASHI:** Oh yeah? Come over here and I'll show you how hard to believe it is!

 **BOTAN:** You aren't doing yourself any favors.

 **HAYASHI:** Like you can talk! You're just as suspicious!

 **BOTAN:** Hardly. You stick out like an elephant as far as suspects go.

 **UMEKO:** But you _are_ also a suspect.

 **MOMOKO:** As are you.

 **MASUYO:** And so are you.

 **CHIZURU:** And so am I.

 **KOHARU:** Why'd you bring yourself into their mess?

 **CHIZURU:** Just stating the facts. Nothing wrong with that I hope.

 **HAYASHI:** Probably just trying to deflect attention from yourself!

 **HANAMI:** What kinda logic even is that…

 **CHIZURU:** If you want to accuse me, I expect you have proof?

 **HAYASHI:** Proof? I don't need no proof!

 **MOMOKO:** Actually, you do.

 **ARUNA:** True, is unfair to not be conclusive in matters like now.

 **SHIRO:** B-But is there even a way to uh, prove any of them did it?

 **RYOU:** Rather than try to find proof of guilt, we should look for proof of innocence.

 **AKUMA:** Much more pleasant.

 **JUN:** All riiiiiiiiight~! Time to prove your innocence~!

 **BOTAN:** Pft, like there's even any doubt.

 **UMEKO:** Don't be so dismissive, you don't know who it is either!

 **HAYASHI:** It's you isn't it!? It's always the loners!

 **MASUYO:** Oh please, you're probably the biggest loner here.

 **MOMOKO:** No, not probably. He _is_.

 **MASUYO:** Don't start this now.

 **UMEKO:** All I know is that it isn't me! So there!

 **BOTAN:** Try harder than that. You will look like an idiot if that's all you can defend yourself with.

 **HAYASHI:** Hah, he told you!

 **CHIZURU:** This is getting nowhere fast.

 **RYOU:** Agreed. How about you all rationally talk this over?

 **GEN:** Has to be better than just yelling back and forth pointlessly.

 **JUN:** Showdoooooooooooown~!

 **RYOU:** Please stay out of this.

 **JUN:** So rude~!

 **RYOU:** If there are no more distractions, please begin now.

 **GEN:** _They look ready to jump at each other's throats._

 **GEN:** _I doubt this will be anything resembling a calm and rational talk._

* * *

 **MASS PANIC DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Masuyo's Account | Makeup Kit | Heavy Crate**

 **HAYASHI:** Now way in hell I'm the fucking killer!

 **CHIZURU:** Weren't you the last to see Yoko, Masuyo?

 **UMEKO:** Why won't anyone believe me? I'm no killer!

...

 **BOTAN:** Where were you last night then?

 **MASUYO:** Well, yeah, but I didn't kill her!

 **AKUMA:** Well, can you say why it isn't you?

...

 **HAYASHI:** Doesn't matter! Where were you last night!?

 **ARUNA:** It would be seeming of a perfect setting up!

 **UMEKO:** I was alone, so not really, but still!

...

 **BOTAN:** **In my room, asleep**. Where else would I have been?

 **KOHARU:** A little too perfect if you ask me.

 **MOMOKO:** But still what? It's still a shody alibi.

...

 **KANON:** So in the end, you have no alibi...

 **CHIZURU:** After you two **were done arguing** , you killed her, no?

 **UMEKO:** From you, I don't wanna hear it!

...

 **BOTAN:** I would have to concede that point.

 **MASUYO:** No!

 **MOMOKO:** Do you want me to be the killer Umeko? _**How spiteful**_.

...

 **HAYASHI:** See? You're totally the killer!

 **KOHARU:** Well, what about you then Chizuru?

 **SHIRO:** S-So what were you doing then uh, M-Momoko?

...

 **BOTAN:** At least I could say where I was last night, unlike you.

 **CHIZURU:** As I said, I was alone in the laundry room.

 **MOMOKO:** Isn't it obvious? I was _**totes bashing that chick's brains in**_! Or not.

...

 **KANON:** _**Sick burns**_ …

 **ARUNA:** Why doing laundry so late anyways?

 **SHIRO:** T-That's not funny!

...

 **GEN:** _Wait, what? Did I hear that right? I wasn't aware of that…_

 **BULLET FIRED: Masuyo's Account**

 **GEN:** I heard it!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** Hold up, Masuyo and Yoko were arguing over something?

 **MASUYO:** Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that part? Heh.

 **MOMOKO:** Golly gee, how incriminating.

 **MASUYO:** Please, it was just over something trivial, don't hound me!

 **MOMOKO:** You saying that just makes you a bigger suspect!

 **GEN:** Enough you two! That isn't what I have a problem with!

 **AKUMA:** What do you take offense to then? That seemed like a big deal to me.

 **BOTAN:** I see… good catch Gen.

 **JUN:** Whaaaaat~!? Someone explain it to me~!

 **GEN:** Chizuru! How did you know that they were arguing in the vending machine room?

 **CHIZURU:** Oh my.

 **MASUYO:** Hey yeah, how did you know? I didn't tell you!

 **CHIZURU:** You are much louder than you might think yourself to be.

 **HANAMI:** Amen to that…

 **HAYASHI:** So in the end, it didn't mean a thing? Fucking bullshit!

 **KOHARU:** Seems a little, I don't know, odd? How can I say it?

 **RYOU:** Actually, I take issue what Chizuru said.

 **SHIRO:** Y-You do!? Why!?

 **CHIZURU:** I too would like an explanation.

 **RYOU:** It is not just your recent statements that have piqued my suspicion.

 **BOTAN:** So you've had your eyes on her for awhile then? What tipped you off?

 **RYOU:** After we started the investigation, Chizuru has been making rather out of character statements.

 **CHIZURU:** I haven't a clue what you mean.

 **RYOU:** Even now I can see she is still hiding something.

 **GEN:** Ryou, are you really going to accuse Chizuru?

 **RYOU:** Nope.

 **KANON:** Now you've lost me…

 **RYOU:** I have someone else in mind, actually.

 **ARUNA:** You do!? Hurry up and be telling us then!

 **RYOU:** You all might want to brace yourselves.

 **GEN:** _I haven't seen anything even remotely pointing to the true killer._

 **GEN:** _Who the hell does he think did it!?_

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **AN: What an evil place to stop, I know. See, I initially was going to have this be split into two parts, but I might end up making it three. We'll see.**

 **So I want to hear your thoughts on this first trial segment. I know it's in script style, which is a bit controversial. I normally hate it too, but the format really lends itself well to a class trial.**

 **So there was no Scrum Debate or Rebuttal Showdown this part. Don't worry, they will happen, promise. I also promise not to take a month for the next part to come out.**

 **As usual, leave any comments, questions, or concerns in the reviews, if you want!**


	12. Chapter 1 Trial II

**AN: Told you it wouldn't take as long! Well, barely. I've been keeping busy with another project of mine, see bottom AN for more details, but this story is still my top priority! Time for some replies!**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: I wonder how true that dark horse possibility of your's was? Perhaps you will see if it was rather soon.**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: Always gotta end it at the worst spots. It's like a rule. Glad to see at least one person is okay with scripts! Gotta say, I love how you always leave such detailed reviews. Always a pleasure to read them!**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Let's hope the hype is met with this installment then!**

 **liammarklh88: I'm happy! Trust me, it was a pain. I wanted it to be at least average though, so doing it over and over again was the only thing to do! And yeah, I sorta copied you. Ehe.**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: Yeah, the Mass Panic was something I was experimenting around with. I wanted it in there, but I was unsure how to go about it. Hopefully you were still able to at least sorta get what was going on!**

 **Ziggymia123: You might get a pretty good idea after this. Nice to see you here by the way!**

 **LivelyRoses: I want to comment on your suspects… must resist urge to spoil if correct or not…! Anywho, glad to see you're still around. Don't feel obligated to review each time, I don't mind. Maybe you'll know after this one? We can see!**

 **Before we begin, here's the Truth Bullets for easy reference.**

 **01 - Monokuma File No. 01 -** The body was discovered shortly after the morning announcement in the kitchen freezer. The cause of death is severe blunt force trauma to the head. In addition, there are also numerous other cuts and bruises on her body. Several of her bones suffered fractures and breaks. Death was long, drawn out, and very, very painful.

 **02 - Cleaning Supplies -** There were various bottles of cleaners in the kitchen that only showed signs of slight use.

 **03 - Kitchen Knife -** A knife was missing from the kitchen. It was later found hidden in the puddle of blood in the freezer.

 **04 - Akuma's Account -** Many of the wounds on Yoko's corpse were defensive in nature. Additionally, it is very likely the finishing blow was when the killer bashed her head against the wall.

 **05 - Masuyo's Account -** Yoko was last seen alive approximately an hour before nighttime. No one is able to verify this information.

 **06 - Blood Puddle -** The pool of blood in the freezer has been diluted with melted frost.

 **07 - Jun's Party -** Jun, Koharu, Kanon, Akuma and Aruna were in the lounge from about 6 PM to until 11 PM. Ryou and Shiro were also present, but left about 5 minutes before the nighttime announcement.

 **08 - Cafeteria Doors -** The doors to the cafeteria are locked during nighttime. Gen tested the handle before the morning announcement to make sure. Those who know the doors lock would be Gen and Botan as of today, and Umeko and Hayashi as of yesterday. Ryou has known for quite some time.

 **09 - Chizuru's Account -** Chizuru claims to have been in the laundry room from 7 PM to 10 PM. According to her, nobody entered the laundry room during this time.

 **10 - Makeup Kit -** A makeup kit was found stuffed into one of the washing machines in the laundry room. More than likely, it came from the storage room.

 **11 - Heavy Crate -** A box in the storage room that was sitting in the middle of the floor. It was empty, but still weighed roughly 75lbs. The ground underneath is scuffed.

 **12 - Broken Guardrail -** The guardrail on the third level of the storage room was destroyed in one section.

 **13 - Botan's Theory -** To him, the murder seemed very amateurish. Almost too much so.

 **14 - Rolling Pin -** A bloodied rolling pin was found stuffed into the couch cushions in the lounge.

 **15 - Wet Sink -** The kitchen sink had a small amount of water in it. This is the only sink seen thus far.

* * *

 **RYOU:** I wish to indict Yoko Miura for this crime.

 **KOHARU:** What the fuck!?

 **HAYASHI:** Are you fucking retarded!?

 **KANON:** ...Like a zombie?

 **MASUYO:** No zombies! Explain yourself Ryou!

 **MOMOKO:** It is quite an outlandish theory, I too demand a justification.

 **BOTAN:** Of course, you do have proof I take it?

 **RYOU:** I would not say it if I could not back it up.

 **UMEKO:** Well hurry up, the suspense is killing me!

 **RYOU:** Think back to some of the comments Chizuru made before we began our trial.

 **ARUNA:** But Aruna thought you were not thinking her, but Yoko?

 **RYOU:** I am. Gen, tell the court some of the things Chizuru had said to you earlier.

 **CHIZURU:** ...

 **GEN:** Okay, but I really can't see-

 **GEN:** _Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait._

 **GEN:** _Is he… going where I think he is!?_

 **AKUMA:** Gen, what did she say to you?

 **GEN:** _What she said? The implications are… severe._

* * *

 **MULTIPLE CHOICE**

A. She said she likes me.

B. She knew about Yoko's argument.

 **{C. She made stage references.}**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** You aren't seriously about to say this, are you Ryou?

 **SHIRO:** S-Say, what? I still d-don't get what's going on…

 **RYOU:** Go on Gen.

 **GEN:** Are you referring to her stage terminology?

 **CHIZURU:** ...

 **RYOU:** I am glad you were paying attention to that.

 **KOHARU:** The fuck does that even mean?

 **ARUNA:** But Aruna think Yoko was stage acting, not Chizuru.

 **BOTAN:** I think I'm starting to get the picture here.

 **BOTAN:** But surely you have more than that? Even I could say such things with no meaning.

 **RYOU:** True enough. '"Raise the curtains" and "The stage is set", among others, are hardly exclusive.

 **KANON:** Are there zombies or not…?

 **MOMOKO:** No zombies! Let the smart ones talk it over, 'kay?

 **JUN:** But I'm tooooootally lost right now toooo~!

 **ARUNA:** Aruna is as well failing to miss point.

 **GEN:** Just say it so they all understand it Ryou.

 **GEN:** Say why you are accusing Yoko.

 **RYOU:** I suppose being clear and concise is the best way to go about it.

 **RYOU:** Very well, listen good everyone.

 **JUN:** Listening~!

 **RYOU:** It is my assertion that the one with us here today, is not Chizuru Uzumaki.

 **RYOU:** It is none other than Yoko Miura!

 **ARUNA:** What an unexpected turning of events!

 **KOHARU:** That's totally bonkers!

 **SHIRO:** W-What does that mean!? D-Does that mean C-Chizuru was the one who died!?

 **CHIZURU:** ...

 **KANON:** So it _is_ a zombie…

 **AKUMA:** That's er, enough of that Kanon.

 **AKUMA:** More importantly, what the hell makes you think that Ryou?

 **MASUYO:** Yeah, the two of them don't even look alike.

 **HAYASHI:** You just trying to sound smart? 'Cause you look like a jackass right now!

 **MOMOKO:** I really hope you have a good reason for thinking that Ryou.

 **RYOU:** As I said, I would not claim it if I could not back it up.

 **UMEKO:** You can even explain how she dressed up as Chizuru? I'd love to see it!

 **RYOU:** Very well, that can be my next point.

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Cleaning Supplies | Makeup Kit | Wet Sink**

 **HAYASHI:** There's no way anyone is stupid enough to mix those two up!

 **RYOU:** Normally, yes.

 **AKUMA:** The two of them have **different hair colors**.

 **AKUMA:** Can you explain that?

 **RYOU:** Yes, yes I can.

 **UMEKO:** What about the eyes? **They weren't very similar either**!

 **RYOU:** That can also be answered.

 **RYOU:** All that was needed for this mimicry to work _**was a simple item**_.

 **HANAMI:** And you're gonna have Gen tell us what it is, aren't you?

 **HANAMI:** _**You're kinda lazy**_ …

 **GEN:** _All that was needed was something close by for the trick to work. It has to be that thing._

 **BULLET FIRED: Makeup Kit**

 **GEN:** I agree with that!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** You're talking about the makeup kit we found, aren't you?

 **UMEKO:** You guys found a makeup kit? Where in the heck was it?

 **GEN:** It was stuffed into one of the washing machines in the laundry room.

 **SHIRO:** T-The laundry room? I-Isn't that where Chizuru said she was?

 **MOMOKO:** It was, now that you mention it.

 **CHIZURU:** ...

 **JUN:** So are you saying Yoko pulled out a wig and became the new Chizuru~!?

 **HAYASHI:** And then she put a fucking wig on Chizuru's body!?

 **AKUMA:** I would have noticed if the corpse was wearing a wig!

 **KANON:** Probably hair dye then… the blood kinda obscured her hair anyway.

 **AKUMA:** True, with the body's state it would be hard to tell how much makeup she was wearing.

 **AKUMA:** Yoko always wears makeup anyway, so it didn't seem odd that the body was wearing any either.

 **MASUYO:** And you are just now mentioning this?

 **AKUMA:** Like I said, it hardly seemed relevant.

 **ARUNA:** What was all in making up box anyway? Was hair dyeing an availability?

 **RYOU:** It was quite the extravagant box really.

 **RYOU:** Nail polish, eyeliner, toner, and most importantly, hair dye and color contacts.

 **RYOU:** There was even more, if you were curious.

 **KOHARU:** Suddenly, this doesn't sound so far fetched.

 **MOMOKO:** So Yoko killed Chizuru and swapped their appearances?

 **MOMOKO:** Still seems like a stretch to me!

 **GEN:** It is a stretch, but I am starting to suspect-

 _ **Your production is getting the axe!**_

 **CHIZURU:** That is quite enough.

 **GEN:** Chizuru? No, wait, Yoko!?

 **CHIZURU:** Cease this foolish charade at once.

 **CHIZURU:** I've been listening this whole time, and I must say, I am not impressed!

 **CHIZURU:** Everything you've been saying has been nothing but circumstantial.

 **CHIZURU:** My phrasing? A coincidence.

 **CHIZURU:** The makeup kit? I didn't even know about it.

 **CHIZURU:** You are just grasping at straws!

 **GEN:** _No, I think we are really on to something, but she is right._

 **GEN:** _I'm going to need something conclusive to pin her down!_

* * *

 **REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN**

 **Truth Blades Loaded:**

 **Monokuma File No. 01 | Kitchen Knife | Chizuru's Account | Makeup Kit**

 **CHIZURU:** Admit it, you don't have anything!

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** Speculation, that's all this is!

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** You don't have a shred of real evidence!

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** Just give up your faulty claim already!

 _=SLASH=_

 _ADVANCE_

 **GEN:** We do have evidence pointing to it though.

 **GEN:** The makeup kit and your own words point to you.

 **CHIZURU:** Like I said, I didn't know about the kit.

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** And my choice of words hardly proves anything.

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** Why are we even wasting time talking about this?

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** We all know Yoko is dead after all.

 _=SLASH=_

 **CHIZURU:** It has been **conclusively established**!

 **BLADE USED:** Monokuma File No. 01

 **GEN:** I'll cut through your lies!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** How sure are we that it _is_ conclusively established?

 **CHIZURU:** Very sure, we've all seen her body.

 **GEN:** True, we have all seen a body, but who is to say it's Yoko's?

 **GEN:** After all, the Monokuma File doesn't specify who exactly died.

 **GEN:** It just says that _a_ body was found, not whose body it is!

 **CHIZURU:** …!

 **AKUMA:** Why, that's true!

 **HANAMI:** What a poorly made file…

 **BOTAN:** Monokuma, what is the meaning of this omission of facts?

 **MONOKUMA:** Oh gee, that's a toughie, you know?

 **MONOKUMA:** Well, I can only put information in the File that neither helps nor hurts the blackened.

 **MONOKUMA:** I have to keep things impartial!

 **MONOKUMA:** What kinda bear would give you bastards biased evidence!?

 **BOTAN:** So since you didn't mention who died, that's important to the case?

 **MONOKUMA:** Whoopsies! Time to zip my lips! No more questions!

 **MASUYO:** Tch, so it probably is important then.

 **MOMOKO:** I'm sure it is important actually.

 **KOHARU:** I don't know… it still seems hard to swallow.

 **HAYASHI:** I'm sure you know all about that!

 **UMEKO:** You're so freaking crude I swear!

 **JUN:** But reeeeally, Yoko is alive~!? I wanna see it~!

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah, after all, i-it still uh, could have been Yoko who d-died.

 **CHIZURU:** Indeed, the bear's words are hardly decisive enough to back up your claim.

 **RYOU:** Then I suppose I shall have to put the final nail into your coffin.

 **CHIZURU:** What!?

 **GEN:** You can prove for sure that it's Yoko standing there, and not Chizuru?

 **RYOU:** Yes, and it is really quite easy to do.

 **RYOU:** Chizuru, or more accurately, Yoko, stand up straight for me.

 **KANON:** What does posture have to do with anything…?

 **RYOU:** Ever since we found the body, "Chizuru" has been leaning over or sitting down.

 **RYOU:** Even now she is leaning over her podium.

 **BOTAN:** Heh, I see. How clever.

 **BOTAN:** A makeup kit can hide many things, but height isn't one of them.

 **ARUNA:** Aha, so if really is Yoko, should be shorter than normally being.

 **MOMOKO:** Go on girlie, stand up nice and tall for the crowd, pretty please?

 **CHIZURU:** ...Fine, I can see there's no way around it.

 **RYOU:** Just as I thought.

 **KOHARU:** Yup, that's for sure a good bit shorter than Chizuru.

 **JUN:** Wow Chizuru, you shrunk~! Just kiddiiiiiing~!

 **UMEKO:** So that really is Yoko then. Wow.

 **YOKO:** I admit it, it is I.

 **YOKO:** I hadn't thought to be found out so soon, and with such gusto.

 **MONOKUMA:** Now that the truth is out, please move to your correct spot!

 **YOKO:** Very well.

 **MONOKUMA:** And now I can raise this puppy!

 **GEN:** ...Why do we have to look at a portrait of the departed?

 **MONOKUMA:** Just because she's dead doesn't mean she can't be here in spirit!

 **HANAMI:** What an ass...

 **BOTAN:** Well, I think I've seen enough.

 **BOTAN:** Monokuma, we are ready to vote.

 **YOKO:** Huh? Wait, surely you jest? You cannot possibly think I am the killer, could you?

 **MOMOKO:** Who else _but_ the killer would disguise themselves as the victim?

 **HAYASHI:** It's hella suspicious!

 **YOKO:** Now wait a moment! There is a perfectly good explanation for all of this!

 **KOHARU:** Alright, I suppose we should hear you out.

 **YOKO:** Splendid! Allow me to tell the tale of how things came to be!

 **KANON:** Skip to the point please… I can't handle a long story…

 **YOKO:** Tough crowd! Very well, listen good!

 **JUN:** Listening~!

 **YOKO:** After I had finished my conversation with Masuyo I headed to the laundry room.

 **UMEKO:** Why? Felt like some late night clothes washing?

 **YOKO:** No, I had received a note from Chizuru telling me to meet her there before nighttime.

 **GEN:** You got a note too? She asked me to meet her there a little after nighttime.

 **YOKO:** Interesting! Anyway, as soon as I went inside, I found myself losing consciousness.

 **YOKO:** I think it was Chizuru who knocked me out, but I didn't see who did it for sure.

 **YOKO:** The next thing I remember was waking up stuffed into one of the washing machines.

 **YOKO:** I was naked as a babe!

 **AKUMA:** You were huh?

 **MOMOKO:** …

 **MASUYO:** …

 **KANON:** …

 **UMEKO:** …

 **YOKO:** …

 **KOHARU:** …

 **HANAMI:** …You're a pervert…

 **AKUMA:** No no no no no no no I'm not! That isn't what I meant!

 **AKUMA:** I'm just saying, you needed to find clothes, right?

 **AKUMA:** Since it seems like Chizuru is the one who knocked you out, she probably took your clothes too, right?

 **AKUMA:** So she must have hidden her own clothes in the laundry room, only for you to find them!

 **YOKO:** Correct! Her clothing was in the machine next to mine, along with a makeup kit.

 **YOKO:** I concluded that she had absconded with my clothes and was masquerading as me!

 **YOKO:** I couldn't let that stand, so I decided to masquerade as her!

 **MOMOKO:** That makes enough sense for last night and all, but…

 **MOMOKO:** ...Why keep pretending after we found her dead then?

 **YOKO:** I had wanted to tell you all, but that dastardly Monokuma wouldn't let me!

 **BOTAN:** Is that true Monokuma?

 **MONOKUMA:** My lips are still zipped! Figure it out yourselves!

 **MASUYO:** So let me get this straight.

 **MASUYO:** The reason that Chizuru looked like Yoko was because she disguised herself?

 **MASUYO:** And you look like her out of petty revenge and weren't allowed to reveal yourself?

 **YOKO:** Minus the petty part, everything said is correct!

 **HAYASHI:** Well isn't that just convenient?

 **HAYASHI:** Sounds to me like you're just making up excuses!

 **MOMOKO:** Indeed, everything you've said sounds like a desperate lie.

 **KOHARU:** Hey now, we don't know one way or the other for sure.

 **MASUYO:** Exactly, Yoko seems like she could be telling the truth.

 **BOTAN:** However, she was the last to see the victim.

 **BOTAN:** She even admits to getting into an altercation with her.

 **SHIRO:** T-The whole disguise thing seems pretty fishy t-too…

 **ARUNA:** But the bear wouldn't be allowing her to speak on it Aruna thinks?

 **AKUMA:** It's hard to say if that's true either though.

 **UMEKO:** Well, I'd sooner trust her than the warden!

 **KANON:** She still had a large window of time to kill her though…

 **JUN:** You think so too, riiiiight Ryou~!?

 **RYOU:** I actually believe her.

 **RYOU:** Monokuma is not to be trusted, it seems likely he would keep her from talking.

 **YOKO:** See? That bear is a heinous villain, through and through.

 **MOMOKO:** Surprising you would take her side, considering how you were so adamant about exposing her.

 **MOMOKO:** You even accused her earlier, did you not?

 **RYOU:** I have since changed my mind.

 **RYOU:** Her story seems credible.

 **HANAMI:** What do you think Gen?

 **GEN:** _What do I think? Considering everything it does make sense to think Yoko is the killer…_

 **GEN:** _But what is this nagging feeling I keep having? Feels like we're missing something._

 **GEN:** I will trust in Yoko.

 **HANAMI:** Well if you are, I suppose I will too.

 **BOTAN:** So it appears we are split down the middle on this.

 **BOTAN:** Seems like some convincing is in order.

 **MONOKUMA:** And what better way to do that than with an argument!?

 **UMEKO:** Gah! Don't yell like that for no reason!

 **MONOKUMA:** Alright listen up you shit for brains! It's time for a Scrum Debate!

 **AKUMA:** A Scrum Debate? What's that?

 **MONOKUMA:** It is basically the same as what you've been doing, only now you'll be doing it as teams!

 **MONOKUMA:** All I have to do is pull a little lever, aaaaaand presto!

 **GEN:** The hell!? The podiums are rearranging themselves!

 **MONOKUMA:** It's easier to see who you're up against when they're right across from you!

 **MONOKUMA:** Now get to it!

 **GEN:** _There's some hard hitters on the opposition._

 **GEN:** _It won't be easy to convince them Yoko's innocent, but I have to try!_

* * *

 **SCRUM DEBATE**

 **IS YOKO THE KILLER?**

 **SHE IS INNOCENT**

Gen, Yoko, Hanami, Masuyo, Aruna, Koharu, Ryou, Umeko

 **VS**

 **SHE IS GUILTY**

Hayashi, Momoko, Botan, Shiro, Akuma, Kanon, Jun, Chizuru (X)

 **BEGIN**

 **HAYASHI:** It's clear as fuck that bitch is the **killer**!

 **KOHARU:** You don't have any evidence she is the **killer**.

 **SHIRO:** Why e-else would she wear the **disguise** if she weren't the culprit?

 **YOKO:** I wanted to take off the **disguise** , but Monokuma wouldn't let me!

 **BOTAN:** You could easily be **lying** about talking to Monokuma.

 **MASUYO:** But Monokuma isn't saying anything! He could be **lying**!

 **MOMOKO:** Yoko already admitted to getting in a **fight** with the victim.

 **UMEKO:** That **fight** left her knocked out, how could she kill anyone then?

 **AKUMA:** She was still the last one to see her **alive**. It's a little suspicious.

 **ARUNA:** Technically killer is last to see **alive**. Can still be anyone.

 **BOTAN:** She still had ample **time** to actually commit the murder. A whole hour.

 **HANAMI:** Some of you still can't account for your own **time** though…

 **KANON:** Yoko has shown herself to have plenty of **strength** … enough to kill I think…

 **RYOU:** When it comes to **strength** , there are others who fit that criteria.

 **JUN:** **Circumstantial** evidence points to her~! She reeeeeeks of fishiness~!

 **GEN:** But it is just **circumstantial**. Nothing has been proven yet!

 _ **THIS IS OUR ANSWER**_

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** It is far too early to assume that Yoko has to be the killer!

 **BOTAN:** Fine, I'll humor you a little longer.

 **BOTAN:** But I'm still not entirely convinced she's in the clear.

 **MOMOKO:** Me neither. Wow, whole lot of 'convincing' you did!

 **YOKO:** How vindictive you all are!

 **JUN:** Are we all gonna ignore how I used a big word~!?

 **JUN:** I bet you all think I didn't even know what circumstantial means~!

 **HAYASHI:** Pipe down you little brat, no one cares!

 **AKUMA:** But if not Yoko, then who could it be?

 **ARUNA:** True statements, who else could have clobbering Chizuru?

 **GEN:** If my memory is right, a few of us still don't have real alibis.

 **HAYASHI:** Why you looking at me you asswipe!? I don't need no fucking alibi!

 **MOMOKO:** The no alibi club is a fun place, why don't you wanna admit you're a member?

 **HAYASHI:** Don't try to make it sound better! You don't have one either!

 **KOHARU:** Yeah yeah, let's not derail into this feud again.

 **KOHARU:** Hayashi, Umeko, Botan, Momoko, and Masuyo.

 **KOHARU:** And I guess Yoko too.

 **KOHARU:** Those are the guys without an alibi still, yeah?

 **UMEKO:** Yeah, I can't really fight that.

 **UMEKO:** I mean, I was all alone after all.

 **MOMOKO:** Why not lie and say you were with me? I won't tell~!

 **JUN:** Hey~! That's my thing~!

 **UMEKO:** Like I'd ever be alone with you anyway!

 **GEN:** Ignoring that, it seems like focusing on the alibis won't really get us anywhere.

 **GEN:** Considering we can't prove or disprove them at all.

 **HANAMI:** So what should we do instead? I'm getting tired of all this talking…

 **SHIRO:** M-Maybe look at some evidence some more?

 **SHIRO:** I-I'm sure t-there's a clue in there somewhere.

 **HAYASHI:** If there was something obvious we woulda seen it already!

 **RYOU:** Maybe we should look for something outside of our collected evidence then?

 **AKUMA:** I highly doubt anyone but the killer would have secret evidence hidden up their sleeve.

 **KANON:** So you think I'm a killer…

 **AKUMA:** N-No my darling Kanon! I would never!

 **KANON:** You wouldn't be the first…

 **AKUMA:** I'm sorry, I take it back!

 **BOTAN:** So are you saying you _do_ have some evidence you haven't shared yet Kanon?

 **KANON:** Yeah, there just was never a good time to show it off…

 **MASUYO:** Well now's a pretty good time!

 **YOKO:** Yes please, if it will clear my name then by all means share away!

 **KANON:** ...You guys promise you won't judge?

 **ARUNA:** Aruna is not a person who does judgemental judging.

 **AKUMA:** Go on Kanon, let's see what you got!

 **RYOU:** Yes, it might be important.

 **SHIRO:** I-I wonder what she has…

 **HAYASHI:** Prolly something stupid and a waste of time.

 **MOMOKO:** Speaking of wastes of time, please shut up now.

 **KANON:** ...Can I go now?

 **BOTAN:** Yes, and do it before another imbecile interrupts.

 **JUN:** Well you don't have to look at meeeeee~!

 **KANON:** Okie dokie then. Feast your eyes on… evidence!

 **GEN:** _She's pulling something out from under her clothes. Wait..._

 **YOKO:** …!

 **SHIRO:** …!

 **UMEKO:** …!

 **GEN:** _What the absolute flying fuck is that!_

 **GEN:** Don't look Hanami!

 **HANAMI:** Heeey, I can't see with your arms in the way!

 **MASUYO:** What the hell Kanon!

 **HAYASHI:** You are fucking fucked in the head girl! Holy shit!

 **JUN:** Ohoooo, I think I'm gonna puke~!

 **BOTAN:** Alright everyone, enough freaking out.

 **BOTAN:** Detached limbs are nothing to be scared of.

 **KANON:** And here I thought they wouldn't judge… sigh…

 **AKUMA:** Oh, uh, yes that's um, correct!

 **AKUMA:** No judging here!

 **MOMOKO:** I'm judging her.

 **KOHARU:** Don't be starting anything now… ugh.

 **RYOU:** I take it you had a good reason for removing the arms from the corpse?

 **KANON:** Didn't I mention it? I just take things I like… I can't help it…

 **UMEKO:** Is _that_ what you meant by that!?

 **ARUNA:** Interesting hobbies Kanon has. Prop collecting seems harmless fun!

 **YOKO:** No, I shan't even bother to issue a correction.

 **RYOU:** All that being what it is, why did you feel the need to show us this Kanon?

 **KANON:** Well there was something off about her hands…

 **MASUYO:** What? What was so off about her hands that you had to hack them off and bring them here for?

 **KANON:** You see how they are tightly gripped right now…?

 **BOTAN:** Rigor mortis I assume.

 **KANON:** Yeah… well I pried them open… I wanted a peek…

 **JUN:** Did ya see anything gooood in there~!?

 **KANON:** Uh-huh…

 **MOMOKO:** Can you tell us what that good thing was?

 **KANON:** ...Hair.

 **YOKO:** Hair?

 **KANON:** See? She's got a few strands of hair right here in her fists…

 **KANON:** Blue hair…

 **HAYASHI:** No fucking way!

 **HAYASHI:** So it was you! Never trust the shy ones!

 **SHIRO:** W-What!? B-But I thought we said I c-couldn't do it!

 **SHIRO:** F-Five minutes isn't e-enough for all that~!

 **JUN:** That's right~! Shiro can't have done it~!

 **MOMOKO:** Well it couldn't have been the other blue haired person, now could it?

 **MOMOKO:** He was at a party!

 **AKUMA:** Y-Yeah! I had no opportunity!

 **KANON:** Yeah you did…

 **AKUMA:** K-Kanon!?

 **ARUNA:** Ah yes, older gentleman left for potty break sometime at gathering. Was gone five minutes.

 **AKUMA:** A-Aruna!? And what do you mean by 'older gentleman'!?

 **AKUMA:** I'm as old as the rest of you!

 **BOTAN:** So both of them had a five minute timespan to kill Chizuru.

 **UMEKO:** Well who is to say it has to be one of them? Remember the makeup kit?

 **RYOU:** Unfortunately, there was no blue hair dye in it.

 **KANON:** It looks natural too…

 **KOHARU:** But could either of them even kill her in five minutes?

 **GEN:** I'm sure there has to be an explanation for it.

 **RYOU:** Precisely.

 **BOTAN:** Do you have something in mind?

 **RYOU:** Yes. We simply need to show one of them had more than five minutes to commit the deed.

 **HANAMI:** How are you gonna do that? Sounds hard…

 **RYOU:** Not at all. As long as we use the evidence we have collected correctly, the answer will be clear.

 **GEN:** _So Chizuru's killer is either Shiro or Akuma?_

 **GEN:** _I have a hard time believing either._

 **GEN:** _We need to clear this up, one way or another!_

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **AN: I want to begin by saying sorry to Songbirds-Lullaby about revealing that it was in fact your character that died. I liked Chizuru, I really did. Trust me when I say it wasn't easy to pick.**

 **Conversely, I imagine at least one person out there is happy to see Yoko is still kicking. This whole thing was planned from the start as an elaborate (hopefully) ruse.**

 **Anyway, who do you guys think is the killer? Shiro? Akuma? Someone else? Well whoever it is, you will have to find out next time!**

 **Also, side plug here. I'm sure many of you are aware of this, but if not I may as well say it. Me and some pals have started another SYOC: "Anonymity Round". We are still taking apps at this time, so if you want to send in an OC there, by all means do!**

 **Well that's enough out of me. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave them in the reviews! If you want to. Not like I can force you to.**


	13. Chapter 1 Trial III (END)

**AN: First of all, big apologies that this took so long to come out. I'm not going to go into details, but July was a very busy month for me. In fact, I didn't even start writing this until last week. Such is life I suppose. You might want to reread the past chapters if you've forgotten the details, this one gets a little complicated at parts. Maybe. Anyway, onto the replies!**

 **Ziggymia123: Favorites always die first. It's kinda the rule around here. If the last one was hard to follow I pray that this one doesn't make your head explode.**

 **Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera: I knew you'd at least be happy with that little twist!**

 **aWasTooShort: Glad to see you're being surprised by all this. Since I know what happens, I can't help but feel it's obvious. As for who the killer is, well, find out right now!**

 **eunnieshoujo: Seems like you can't decide between Akuma and Shiro. Hopefully you better a better idea before the reveal, otherwise I'll have failed as a writer.**

 **Crimson Spider Lily: Yeah, half the point of that was to give the first victim a little more screen time. They are the only ones who don't get to be in a trial, so I figured I'd remedy that, in a certain way. Kanon is a little gross in her hobbies, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do, you know?**

 **tobi-is-an-artist-too: You didn't see it coming? Mission accomplished. Aw, why you gotta judge Kanon? She kindly asked people not to judge her. Hah.**

 **liamkarklh88: Not going to address the elephant in the room. Nope. I'm happy that you think so highly of this story so far. It really does mean a lot to me. Flirting with the MC does tend to result in death, huh? Let it be a lesson kids. As for if it is Akuma, well you'll find out pretty soon, now won't you?**

 **TheRoseShadow21: Holy bananas indeed. I agree completely.**

 **mauyrie: It's okay, I'm dumb too. Yeah, no more Chizuru is a bit of a downer, but on the bright side, more Yoko! So I take it you think Akuma is the killer?**

 **Abitat Eco: Hi right back at ya! For anyone wondering, she totally predicted the fake death thing. I'm so proud. Oh, you're looking forward to the punishment? Uh, I see. I hope I deliver. Heh.**

 **Before we begin, here's the Truth Bullets for easy reference.**

 **01 - Monokuma File No. 01 -** The body was discovered shortly after the morning announcement in the kitchen freezer. The cause of death is severe blunt force trauma to the head. In addition, there are also numerous other cuts and bruises on her body. Several of her bones suffered fractures and breaks. Death was long, drawn out, and very, very painful.

 **02 - Cleaning Supplies -** There were various bottles of cleaners in the kitchen that only showed signs of slight use.

 **03 - Kitchen Knife -** A knife was missing from the kitchen. It was later found hidden in the puddle of blood in the freezer.

 **04 - Akuma's Account -** Many of the wounds on Yoko's corpse were defensive in nature. Additionally, it is very likely the finishing blow was when the killer bashed her head against the wall.

 **05 - Masuyo's Account -** Yoko was last seen alive approximately an hour before nighttime. No one is able to verify this information.

 **06 - Blood Puddle -** The pool of blood in the freezer has been diluted with melted frost.

 **07 - Jun's Party -** Jun, Koharu, Kanon, Akuma and Aruna were in the lounge from about 6 PM to until 11 PM. Ryou and Shiro were also present, but left about 5 minutes before the nighttime announcement.

 **08 - Cafeteria Doors -** The doors to the cafeteria are locked during nighttime. Gen tested the handle before the morning announcement to make sure. Those who know the doors lock would be Gen and Botan as of today, and Umeko and Hayashi as of yesterday. Ryou has known for quite some time.

 **09 - Chizuru's Account -** Chizuru claims to have been in the laundry room from 7 PM to 10 PM. According to her, nobody entered the laundry room during this time.

 **10 - Makeup Kit -** A makeup kit was found stuffed into one of the washing machines in the laundry room. More than likely, it came from the storage room.

 **11 - Heavy Crate -** A box in the storage room that was sitting in the middle of the floor. It was empty, but still weighed roughly 75lbs. The ground underneath is scuffed.

 **12 - Broken Guardrail -** The guardrail on the third level of the storage room was destroyed in one section.

 **13 - Botan's Theory -** To him, the murder seemed very amateurish. Almost too much so.

 **14 - Rolling Pin -** A bloodied rolling pin was found stuffed into the couch cushions in the lounge.

 **15 - Wet Sink -** The kitchen sink had a small amount of water in it. This is the only sink seen thus far.

* * *

 **AKUMA:** C'mon guys, you can't really think it's me, can you?

 **MOMOKO:** It's surprisingly easy to think that actually.

 **SHIRO:** I-I mean, i-it isn't me! S-So it has t-to be you!

 **AKUMA:** That isn't a viable defense!

 **JUN:** But he is soooooo much less suspicious than you are~!

 **MASUYO:** But even you can't deny that Shiro could easily kill Chizuru if he wanted to.

 **BOTAN:** True, he does appear to have much more physical strength than Akuma does.

 **KANON:** Hooray… a point for you Aku…

 **AKUMA:** Looks like I'm gonna need all the points I can get…

 **HAYASHI:** Can we hurry up and decide which of them it is already!?

 **HAYASHI:** This is going on for way too damn long!

 **KOHARU:** Settle down, we need some fucking evidence first.

 **YOKO:** But we are in a bit of a dilemma, aren't we?

 **YOKO:** After all, both of them are only unaccounted for for a mere five minutes!

 **RYOU:** Then we simply need to knock down one of those alibis.

 **RYOU:** After all, one of them has to be lying.

 **UMEKO:** But are they? I mean, the people at the party can testify about how long Akuma was gone, can't they?

 **ARUNA:** Yes, no more than five moments. Aruna is sure!

 **MOMOKO:** But Shiro left with Ryou five minutes before nighttime.

 **RYOU:** Yes, that is true.

 **MOMOKO:** So it doesn't sound to me like either of them could have had more time!

 **JUN:** Who knows~!? Maybe the blue hair had nothing to do with it after all~!

 **AKUMA:** Yes, that must be the case!

 **SHIRO:** I-I'm also fine with saying that…

 **BOTAN:** You two don't get a say in its relevance.

 **YOKO:** But it is very true that they both seem in the clear.

 **RYOU:** Maybe we should pursue a different line of reasoning in that case?

 **KOHARU:** You got anything in mind?

 **RYOU:** It might be a tad on the boring side, but why not go over all the evidence?

 **HAYASHI:** You're damn right about it being boring!

 **HAYASHI:** Fuck that noise, ain't got no time for that shit!

 **UMEKO:** Gee, ain't you in a bit of a hurry!

 **HAYASHI:** Duh! Why would I want to spend more time in this stupid trial!?

 **HANAMI:** This isn't the sorta things you should rush you know…

 **RYOU:** Well then, since Hayashi is so pressed for time, let us shorten the process.

 **RYOU:** How about we go over some of the evidence we have not used yet?

 **HAYASHI:** You say that, but none of it is even a bit suspect!

 **ARUNA:** Surprising on how he tries to incriminate self.

 **GEN:** _Come to think of it, there was one bit of evidence that Hayashi was pretty jumpy about._

* * *

 **SELECT EVIDENCE**

 **HEAVY CRATE**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** Hayashi, could you explain something to me really quick?

 **HAYASHI:** Oh, so now I'm in the hot seat? Fuck you.

 **GEN:** Could you explain why this random heavy crate is in my Truth Bullets?

 **HAYASHI:** …!

 **UMEKO:** You know, he was acting totes sketchy in the storage room earlier.

 **AKUMA:** Aha! Care to explain that one Hayashi!?

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah! Explain it!

 **BOTAN:** You two are so desperate it's pathetic.

 **HAYASHI:** I don't need to explain shit to any of you losers!

 **MASUYO:** Actually yeah, you kinda do.

 **MOMOKO:** He does.

 **KOHARU:** Anyway… the fuck does some box have to do with this?

 **JUN:** The million dollar question~!

 **RYOU:** It is not something that requires much critical thinking.

 **BOTAN:** It's obvious, given the circumstances.

 **GEN:** _It's obvious huh? Let's see…_

 **GEN:** _The box was really heavy, the floor under was also visibly marked up._

 **GEN:** _The most logical explanation would have to be…_

* * *

 **MULTIPLE CHOICE**

 **{A. The crate fell from up high.}**

B. Someone wanted to get something from out of it.

C. It isn't related.

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** You think it maybe fell from a higher level?

 **ARUNA:** Would be sensing reason for poor floor.

 **RYOU:** I see you reached the same conclusion.

 **BOTAN:** And there is only one reason it could have fallen from so high.

 **KANON:** And what's that…?

 **BOTAN:** Why, to crush someone under it of course.

 **HAYASHI:** Tch…!

 **AKUMA:** Okay, Hayashi is our killer, case closed!

 **SHIRO:** W-What a relief!

 **HANAMI:** Huh… it _is_ pathetic…

 **GEN:** It makes sense.

 **GEN:** Now we just need to figure out if he targeted Chizuru or someone else.

 _ **Lay the fuck off already!**_

 **HAYASHI:** You need to take several steps back buddy!

 **HAYASHI:** You don't even know if that's what the box was for!

 **HAYASHI:** Hell, even if someone tried that, it isn't relevant anyway!

 **HAYASHI:** You're just trying to fuck me aren't ya!

 **GEN:** It's evidence, and right now we have to be critical.

 **GEN:** Sometimes the irrelevant evidence can be the key to a case!

 **HAYASHI:** Well aren't we smart?

 **HAYASHI:** Go and prove your point then jackass!

* * *

 **REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN**

 **Truth Blades Loaded:**

 **Heavy Crate | Broken Guardrail | Rolling Pin**

 **HAYASHI:** You're just a real moron, you know!?

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** This is such a waste of time!

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** We already know the killer is a blue haired bastard!

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** So there's no way I'm the killer!

 _=SLASH=_

 _ADVANCE_

 **GEN:** Regardless of if you are the killer or not...

 **GEN:** You tried to kill someone with that crate!

 **HAYASHI:** Oh, so now I'm an attempted murderer?

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** It's like you have a vendetta or something!

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** All this talk about falling boxes…

 _=SLASH=_

 **HAYASHI:** There's no **proof it even fell**!

 **BLADE USED:** Broken Guardrail

 **GEN:** I'll cut through your lies!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** Oh, I have proof all right.

 **HAYASHI:** Bullshit! I'm calling your bluff!

 **GEN:** You can call it whatever you want, it won't change the facts.

 **GEN:** I'm sure we are all familiar with the layout of the storage room, correct?

 **MASUYO:** Yeah, it's got a few different levels to it.

 **MASUYO:** Whole lot of walkways above your head wherever you go.

 **GEN:** Exactly.

 **GEN:** On one of the above walkways, there was a bit of safety rail missing.

 **ARUNA:** How bad that is. Surely safety hazard.

 **HAYASHI:** So the builders were dumbasses. What about it?

 **GEN:** It was on the walkway above where the crate was found.

 **RYOU:** Most likely, the person behind this could not lift the box over the railing.

 **RYOU:** Destroying the rail was much easier for them.

 **HAYASHI:** Even so, you don't know I did that.

 **UMEKO:** You are such a bad liar!

 **UMEKO:** You flipped out anytime it was even mentioned!

 **MOMOKO:** I know it's pretty obvious.

 **YOKO:** I as well see no other possibility.

 **HAYASHI:** Tch… fine.

 **HAYASHI:** Okay, I'll admit it.

 **AKUMA:** That you are the killer?

 **SHIRIO:** You crushed C-Chizuru?

 **HAYASHI:** No you fucking vulture!

 **HAYASHI:** And like you can fucking talk either!

 **HAYASHI:** All I admit is I tried to kill one of you bozos in the storage room.

 **JUN:** So scaaaaaary~! I knew he was trouble~!

 **BOTAN:** But you didn't kill Chizuru?

 **HAYASHI:** Of course not!

 **HAYASHI:** She was already dead by the time I dropped it anyway!

 **BOTAN:** She was?

 **RYOU:** I would like more details on that.

 **HAYASHI:** I carried out my plan in the morning.

 **HAYASHI:** It was a little after the morning announcement.

 **KOHARU:** Well she certainly would be dead by that time.

 **HAYASHI:** Yup. So I didn't kill her!

 **MOMOKO:** Which is a shame really.

 **MOMOKO:** Imagine how easy this would have been if you did kill her!

 **HAYASHI:** Shit, trying start something you runt!?

 **KANON:** What a stunning series of developments…

 **HANAMI:** More like a burning trainwreck…

 **HANAMI:** He can't even kill someone right…

 **GEN:** Please don't make him even more angry.

 **JUN:** Heeey~! Hey Hey~! Question~!

 **BOTAN:** I'm hesitant to ask, but what is it?

 **JUN:** Hayashi's little story is fun and all, buuuuuuuut…

 **JUN:** What does it have to do with the case~!?

 **BOTAN:** ...

 **BOTAN:** I must admit, that is a good question.

 **HAYASHI:** I told you it didn't matter!

 **HAYASHI:** But did any of you listen? No!

 **KOHARU:** Okay, don't act like a victim now.

 **YOKO:** But it is true we need to refocus our efforts!

 **AKUMA:** And the eyes fall right back onto me…

 **SHIRO:** I-I feel them too…

 **MASUYO:** Yeah, because you two are the most suspicious!

 **AKUMA:** Surely I have been mislabeled! I could never have done this!

 **AKUMA:** Such an act of brutality is beyond my mere capabilities!

 **SHIRO:** S-So you're b-blaming me because of my talent?

 **SHIRO:** That's so er, s-so mean of you!

 **BOTAN:** How unfortunate for you then that being mean is part of a trial.

 **KOHARU:** It looks like we really should just talk about it in more detail then, huh?

 **ARUNA:** Yes, maybe we figuring out killing person after all.

 **GEN:** _So now they are both going to say how it couldn't be them._

 **GEN:** _Let's hope if one of them really is the killer that they make a mistake somewhere!_

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Kitchen Knife | Cafeteria Doors | Rolling Pin**

 **MASUYO:** Shiro and Akuma. Those two are out prime suspects.

 **KANON:** Yes. The **blue hair** gives that away…

 **SHIRO:** W-Well it _**wasn't m-me**_!

 **SHIRO:** I c-could never hurt someone like that…

 **JUN:** Well, I'm inclined to buy that~!

 **JUN:** Shiro is such an _**innocent boy**_ after all~!

 **MOMOKO:** Okay, so it's Akuma.

 **AKUMA:** Don't decide that so easily!

 **YOKO:** Is Akuma really capable of such a savage assault?

 **AKUMA:** Hah, no way! I'm a _**total weakling**_!

 **HANAMI:** You sounded way too proud about that…

 **AKUMA:** Well, anything to save me skin you know. My fists aren't that strong.

 **ARUNA:** So if wasn't by fisting you could been it?

 **AKUMA:** Word choice aside, yeah. But there's **no evidence to support that**!

 **GEN:** _There's a lot to digest here, but something he just said was incredibly fishy._

 **BULLET FIRED: Rolling Pin**

 **GEN:** No that's wrong!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** What if there was evidence suggesting that fists weren't the primary weapon?

 **AKUMA:** Eh? That can't be right. My autopsy was flawless!

 **KANON:** But if you were the killer you could have lied…

 **AKUMA:** Oh uh, I suppose that is true.

 **GEN:** There was a rolling pin found stuffed inside the cushions in the lounge.

 **GEN:** This rolling pin was covered in blood!

 **JUN:** A rolling pin~!? I never got anything like thaaaaaat for my party~!

 **BOTAN:** So you think Akuma used it to bludgeon Chizuru, all while lying about the cause of death.

 **BOTAN:** How crafty Akuma, I should have expected as much.

 **ARUNA:** Aku was on sofa. Can have easy to hide while he was sitting.

 **AKUMA:** Well, that's true, but still!

 **MASUYO:** You also conveniently left out the fact the body was clutching hair.

 **MASUYO:** Why would you do that, I wonder?

 **AKUMA:** I left that to Kanon is all! Besides...

 **AKUMA:** I didn't kill her!

 **MOMOKO:** Then explain the weapon found under your seat.

 **MOMOKO:** Besides, it makes sense the killer is a creep like you.

 **AKUMA:** I-I can't explain it. But I'm not a creep!

 **UMEKO:** Well, you do kinda look like one of those shady guys in the alleys.

 **AKUMA:** I resent that!

 **MOMOKO:** No, you _represent_ that.

 **AKUMA:** Nreergh!

 **SHIRO:** S-See? I-I told you it uh, w-wasn't me!

 **KOHARU:** Not the time for 'I told you so'.

 **SHIRO:** S-Sorry…

 **MASUYO:** So you beat the crap out of Chizuru and went back to the party like nothing happened?

 **MASUYO:** You're just repulsive!

 **YOKO:** To think, he thought it was me. I have shivers…

 **AKUMA:** C'mon guys… I didn't do it. Back me up Kanon, babe?

 **KANON:** I left most of the autopsy to you…

 **KANON:** I just know it was blunt injuries that caused the death…

 **JUN:** And she has a history of playing with body parts, so we can trust her, riiiight~!?

 **BOTAN:** Her fetishes aside, for this case she is definitely trustworthy.

 **AKUMA:** Surely you aren't going to condemn me over something like this!?

 **RYOU:** Of course not, that would be foolish.

 **GEN:** Ryou?

 **HANAMI:** Are you sticking up for Akuma?

 **RYOU:** Naturally. Why would I berate an innocent man?

 **AKUMA:** R-Ryou!

 **GEN:** _He looks like he's about to tear up._

 **BOTAN:** Are you discrediting the evidence against Akuma, Ryou?

 **RYOU:** Why, yes I am.

 **RYOU:** I assert that the rolling pin is nothing more than a red herring!

 **BOTAN:** That's a rather bold declaration.

 **UMEKO:** Why d'ya think that Ryou?

 **RYOU:** It is simple really.

 **HAYASHI:** Oh this should be good.

 **RYOU:** Why was the rolling pin in the lounge in the first place?

 **GEN:** To hide it, right?

 **RYOU:** You would think. But why hide it in such a place?

 **RYOU:** If Akuma were the killer, that is a rather incriminating place to hide it.

 **AKUMA:** Yeah! I'm not so stupid as to do something like that!

 **RYOU:** More to the point, why not simply clean the rolling pin and put it away?

 **RYOU:** It would have been much less conspicuous.

 **UMEKO:** Maybe they just didn't have a way to clean it.

 **UMEKO:** In his panic he just took it with him to hide it.

 **GEN:** No, that doesn't make any sense either.

 **GEN:** Because there was for sure a way to clean off a possible murder weapon.

* * *

 **SELECT EVIDENCE**

 **Cleaning Supplies**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** There were cleaners inside the kitchen that showed signs of being used.

 **GEN:** The rolling pin could have been cleaned off if the killer wanted to do so.

 **RYOU:** But they left it as is.

 **MASUYO:** You yourself said something earlier along these lines.

 **MASUYO:** "They only had five minutes to kill Chizuru".

 **MASUYO:** Is it farfetched to think they simply didn't have time to clean it?

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah. H-How do we know those cleaners uh, weren't u-used earlier, or something?

 **GEN:** _It's pretty easy to prove, thanks to someone's observations earlier._

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Cleaning Supplies | Blood Puddle | Rolling Pin | Wet Sink**

 **KOHARU:** So how do we know that the cleaning supplies were recently used?

 **MASUYO:** They could have been used at any time.

 **SHIRO:** O-Or they might _**not have been full in the first place**_ , or something…

 **YOKO:** Irregular to say the least, but not impossible!

 **AKUMA:** Well I'm pretty sure they were used by the killer!

 **MASUYO:** You admit to using them then?

 **AKUMA:** What? No! **It wasn't me**!

 **HANAMI:** We can _**prove they were used**_ …

 **HANAMI:** Gen, agree with that so we can move on…

 **UMEKO:** What a particular way to phrase it.

 **GEN:** _Well she's right, I'll agree with her now and see where it takes us._

 **BULLET FIRED: Wet Sink**

 **GEN:** I agree with that!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** As you can see, the kitchen sink and the area around it is considerably damp.

 **GEN:** That tells me plain enough that it was used recently.

 **RYOU:** Paired with the cleaning supplies, it is apparent the killer cleaned something off at the scene.

 **BOTAN:** ...Which means the bloody rolling pin was left that way on purpose.

 **YOKO:** What did the killer scrub away then, if it was not that dastardly pin?

 **UMEKO:** Prolly their clothes or something I'd assume.

 **UMEKO:** Must have been practically raining blood in there… urgh.

 **MOMOKO:** If it were me, I wouldn't waste my time with household cleaners.

 **MOMOKO:** I'd just put them in the washing machines and call it a day!

 **GEN:** No, I don't think they could do that.

 **MOMOKO:** And why not?

 **GEN:** Because this evidence removes that as a possibility.

* * *

 **SELECT EVIDENCE**

 **CHIZURU'S ACCOUNT**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** I know it says it's Chizuru's Account, but remember that Yoko is the one who stated this.

 **GEN:** She said she was in the laundry room for four hours. Nobody was there the whole time she was.

 **MOMOKO:** And this is the same Yoko who was knocked unconscious, is it not?

 **YOKO:** Ohoho, correct you are!

 **YOKO:** Slumbering as I was, I am still confident in my claim!

 **UMEKO:** How can you be if you weren't even mentally there?

 **YOKO:** Truth be told, I was not well hidden. Anyone could have seen me with a little looking.

 **YOKO:** In addition, none of the machines were used that night! They take a couple hours to run you know.

 **YOKO:** When I awoke, the were all silent as the night!

 **GEN:** So even if her testimony is a bit misleading, we can assume it's correct.

 **GEN:** The killer cleaned themselves off and made a fake murder weapon to frame Akuma!

 **AKUMA:** So do you believe me now? I'm innocent!

 **BOTAN:** For the moment… yes. I will.

 **MASUYO:** So where does that put us now?

 **RYOU:** Well, we just eliminated one of our prime suspects.

 **KANON:** Oh… wow. Didn't see this coming…

 **GEN:** _With Akuma out of the picture, there is only one other person who fits the criteria._

 **GEN:** _I… am at a loss for words. But the evidence points only to them…_

* * *

 **ACCUSE SOMEONE**

 **SHIRO YASUSHI**

 **GEN:** You're the only one!

* * *

 **GEN:** The killer had their hair in Chizuru's fists…

 **GEN:** Aside from Akuma, only one other person here has blue hair…

 **GEN:** Shiro Yasushi! You killed Chizuru, didn't you!?

 **SHIRO:** Gaaaah!

 **MOMOKO:** So he is a homicidal maniac!

 **KOHARU:** I mean, he's strong enough sure, but he's kinda a wimp at the same time.

 **YOKO:** It _is_ a little hard imagining him as a killer.

 **SHIRO:** T-That's because I w-would n-never!

 **JUN:** Well, I believe in you Shiroooo~! Times like this us pals need to stick together~!

 **SHIRO:** T-Thanks Jun…

 **JUN:** How could Shiro have done it~!? All that carnage in a measly five minutes~!?

 **JUN:** It's tooooootally wacko~!

 **AKUMA:** That didn't seem to stop you when it was me you suspected.

 **RYOU:** You are correct, all that in five minutes is beyond the realm of possibility.

 **JUN:** Wow, I didn't think you'd admit to a mistake like that so easily~!

 **RYOU:** You misunderstand me.

 **JUN:** Eeeeeeeh~!?

 **RYOU:** Shiro must have had more than five minutes available to him is what I mean to say.

 **MOMOKO:** Uh, hello? You yourself testified he only had five minutes to kill her.

 **MOMOKO:** Don't tell me you forgot that already?

 **RYOU:** It is true we both left the party shortly before the announcement.

 **RYOU:** However, we did split up to enter our respective rooms.

 **RYOU:** I cannot testify to his whereabouts after that.

 **MASUYO:** I'm sure no one saw him after that, but it doesn't change the facts with the time.

 **RYOU:** The fact no one can account for him is why I never thought of Akuma as the killer.

 **AKUMA:** Oh really? I'd like to hear more about that!

 **BOTAN:** I get it. Because the partygoers met back up with him five minutes later…

 **BOTAN:** He could not have possibly had anymore time to kill Chizuru.

 **GEN:** The window he is missing for is perfectly bordered.

 **KANON:** More points for you Aku…

 **AKUMA:** I think I've moved past needing those, but thanks anyway.

 **GEN:** But since we only know of when Shiro left, but didn't see him until this morning…

 **GEN:** He somehow found a way around his short window of opportunity.

 **SHIRO:** I-I'm getting confused j-just listening to this…

 **KOHARU:** Care to dumb it down for the rest of us?

 **BOTAN:** To put it simply, I think he is suggesting that Shiro spent the night in the cafeteria.

 **UMEKO:** Wha!? That's so outrageous!

 **YOKO:** Are we even able to do that?

 **MASUYO:** It doesn't violate any rules, but damn.

 **SHIRO:** T-That sounds uh, s-so uncomfortable…

 **SHIRO:** I-I could never s-sleep in such a place…

 **RYOU:** Well, I suppose it is time to reveal the evidence pointing to the fact someone was in there overnight.

 **JUN:** You have evidence for that~!?

 **RYOU:** When the body was discovered in the freezer this morning, was the freezer door shut?

 **BOTAN:** Yes, I quite clearly remember opening it.

 **RYOU:** And there lies our decisive evidence that the killer was in the cafeteria after hours.

 **GEN:** _I think I'm starting to follow his train of thought._

 **GEN:** _But I think that's enough following, time to do some leading!_

* * *

 **NONSTOP DEBATE**

 **Truth Bullets Loaded:**

 **Kitchen Knife | Blood Puddle | Cafeteria Doors | Botan's Theory**

 **UMEKO:** So you had to open the freezer door?

 **BOTAN:** Yes, it was **shut tight** when I arrived with Gen and Ryou.

 **MASUYO:** Not that I doubt that, but how does that prove your point Ryou?

 **RYOU:** Because that fact directly contradicts a piece of evidence.

 **ARUNA:** It does…

 **KANON:** I don't see it…

 **MOMOKO:** Is the problem related to something in the _**kitchen**_?

 **KOHARU:** Maybe something in the _**cafeteria**_?

 **MASUYO:** Or is it possibly at odds with something in the _**freezer**_?

 **SHIRO:** W-Well m-maybe there's uh, _**n-no problem actually**_ …

 **GEN:** _This evidence found there… it makes no sense now that I think of it!_

 **BULLET FIRED: Blood Puddle**

 **GEN:** I agree with that!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** Masuyo's right, there was something in the freezer that contradicts the facts.

 **MASUYO:** No surprise there that I was the one who was right!

 **KANON:** ...Just sounded like guessing to me…

 **GEN:** I would like everyone to think back to the puddle of blood in the freezer.

 **SHIRO:** Y-You're not uh, gonna raise an o-objection with blood at a crime scene, are y-you?

 **KOHARU:** I would hope not, that'd be kinda fucking stupid.

 **GEN:** Tell me. Did any of you find anything… unusual about it?

 **AKUMA:** Was there anything else about it aside from the knife in it?

 **AKUMA:** I was a little too busy with the body to look at it thoroughly.

 **GEN:** Why yes there was. Specifically, the pool was very, very watery.

 **UMEKO:** Maybe some ice melted and got into it?

 **RYOU:** That is exactly what happened.

 **GEN:** Now answer me this: Why did the ice melt?

 **UMEKO:** Um… I don't know.

 **BOTAN:** Oh my, this is a glaring contradiction indeed.

 **BOTAN:** The whole dampness of the room, it's almost as if someone carelessly left the door ajar.

 **MOMOKO:** But since you opened it this morning, that can't have been the case.

 **GEN:** But since the freezer was a bit melty, we do know it was open for an extended period of time.

 **BOTAN:** If they were inside the cafeteria during the night, they could have shut it hours after the crime.

 **GEN:** Indeed. It's for this reason I am quite confident the killer stayed overnight at the crime scene.

 _ **Naughty Naughty Mister Racer~!**_

 **JUN:** Gen, I get you wanna sound smart and all that jazz, but fact check~!

 **JUN:** Why would a killer, let alone Shiro, stay there aaaaaaaall night~!?

 **JUN:** Little bit weird if you ask meeeeeee~!

 **GEN:** Hardly anyone knew the cafeteria locked at night.

 **GEN:** Shit, it was probably not planned if I had to guess.

 **JUN:** Even so, I still have more up my sleeve~!

 **JUN:** Engarde Gen~! Engarde I say~!

* * *

 **REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN**

 **Truth Blades Loaded:**

 **Kitchen Knife | Blood Puddle | Cafeteria Doors | Rolling Pin**

 **JUN:** It's easy to see why the killer did not spend the night~!

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** There's **nowhere comfy** to sleep~!

 _=SLASH=_

 _ADVANCE_

 **GEN:** Please, make an actual argument.

 **JUN:** Sheesh, lighten up a little~!

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** Okay, so you guys all barged into the cafeteria first chance, right~!?

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** If there was someone there, you'd run run into them~!

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** But none of you saw anyone, did you~!?

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** Unless there was some way for the **killer to sneak out** …

 _=SLASH=_

 **JUN:** They'd be caught immediately~!

 **BLADE USED: Cafeteria Doors**

 **GEN:** I'll cut through your lies!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **JUN:** Oh come on, I was hardly lying~!

 **GEN:** Jun, it was entirely possible for someone to escape the notice of Ryou, Botan, and myself.

 **JUN:** What, did you guys have your eyes closed~!?

 **GEN:** No. Remember that the cafeteria has two sets of doors leading into it.

 **GEN:** Someone could have left from one set while we entered through the other.

 **KOHARU:** And you're telling me you didn't notice any of that!?

 **BOTAN:** In our defense, the state of the cafeteria drew our attention quite well.

 **BOTAN:** Someone could have left in our confusion and we would be none the wiser.

 **SHIRO:** W-Well you still can't say f-for sure, r-right?

 **RYOU:** Not one hundred percent, but it is a very likely possibility.

 **SHIRO:** S-So you still can't um, p-prove it was m-me then…

 **AKUMA:** Well, not exactly per se, but the blue hair does say a lot.

 **SHIRO:** B-Besides, w-why would the k-killer use the uh, o-other doors?

 **SHIRO:** E-Everyone I've seen u-uses the one c-closer to the big hallway…

 **MASUYO:** Yeah, that farther door seems kinda pointless.

 **KOHARU:** Maybe the killer knew there was people on the other side of it?

 **ARUNA:** ... I wonder how knowing they would.

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah… h-how would the k-killer know to use the o-other doors?

 **KANON:** Maybe someone let them know they were coming…?

 **GEN:** That… actually may be the case. Damn it.

 **GEN:** _The one who alerted the killer to our presence, it was…_

* * *

 **MULTIPLE CHOICE**

A. Ryou

B. Botan

 **{C. Gen}**

 **GEN:** That's it!

* * *

 **GEN:** Before we went into the cafeteria, I jostled the handle to see if it was locked.

 **GEN:** If the killer was by the doors, they would have heard it for sure.

 **KANON:** Nice going…

 **GEN:** Well it's not like I woulda known!

 **SHIRO:** O-Okay, that p-possibility aside…

 **SHIRO:** Y-You still haven't uh, s-shown anything conclusive…

 **AKUMA:** The blue hair. Are we forgetting that? Come on, after what it almost did to me!?

 **YOKO:** You also certainly don't want for more strength, I easily can visualize the damages you could inflict.

 **JUN:** Sure, but it's all circumstantial still~!

 **JUN:** Oh~! I said it again~! Circumstantial~!

 **GEN:** _He's right, I don't have anything to pin down Shiro…_

 **GEN:** _Do I even have anything like that in my Truth Bullets?_

 **HAYASHI** : ...I saw him.

 **JUN:** What~!?

 **SHIRO:** H-Huh!?

 **HANAMI:** I almost forgot you were even here…

 **BOTAN:** What do you mean you saw him!? Elaborate!

 **HAYASHI:** Fuck, don't rush me!

 **HAYASHI:** I'm sure you all remember my trap in the storage room?

 **MOMOKO:** Yeah, cause of how stupid it was.

 **HAYASHI:** Yeah, yeah, fuck you too. Anyway…

 **HAYASHI:** The one I tried to crush was Shiro.

 **MOMOKO:** And you didn't mention this until now!?

 **HAYASHI:** Maybe I would have sooner if you didn't keep shitting on me!

 **YOKO:** Is that true Shiro?

 **SHIRO:** W-Well… y-yeah. H-He almost killed me…

 **MOMOKO:** Why didn't you mention it either!?

 **SHIRO:** Eep! U-Uh b-because I was a-afraid he'd t-try something on m-me again…

 **RYOU:** Hayashi, you must tell us more about this fateful encounter.

 **HAYASHI:** Not much to tell. He entered from the east door, and I dropped a box on him.

 **HAYASHI:** That's it. It happened this morning.

 **MASUYO:** Did you say the east door?

 **AKUMA:** That's the door closest to the laundry room and lounge.

 **UMEKO:** Shirooooo! Why'd you enter from there? Huh? Huh?

 **SHIRO:** T-That's because I uh…

 **SHIRO:** ...Was taking a w-walk?

 **KANON:** What a strange time for a walk…

 **BOTAN:** Tell me Shiro, was your walk perhaps to, oh I don't know, the lounge?

 **BOTAN:** And while you were there say, maybe plant that rolling pin?

 **SHIRO:** N-No! I-I've never even b-been in the lounge!

 **AKUMA:** We were hanging out together there last night.

 **SHIRO:** O-Oh yeah…

 **MASUYO:** I'm starting to think Shiro may be our culprit after all.

 **JUN:** Wait wait~! Hold up a second~!

 **MOMOKO:** Oh, him again.

 **JUN:** Why do you have to assume he was lying~!? It could have been a walk~!

 **SHIRO:** T-That's right. I uh, t-take them rather f-frequently.

 **YOKO:** Ah, it seems it can not be disproven as a morning stroll.

 **RYOU:** Well then, we will simply have to prove it the old fashion way.

 **KOHARU:** What d'ya got in mind by that?

 **RYOU:** Why, by going over our alibis of course.

 **ARUNA:** Aruna remembers this talking sooner in discourse.

 **RYOU:** True, but now that different facts have come to light, more of us are now accounted for.

 **UMEKO:** If you put it that way, for sure we can go over alibis!

 **GEN:** For starters, me and Hanami were together when the nighttime announcement played.

 **HANAMI:** Yup, I can confirm.

 **AKUMA:** Those of us at Jun's Party…

 **AKUMA:** I'm sure it was me, Aruna, Kanon, Jun, and Koharu.

 **RYOU:** Since me and Shiro left early, I ask that we not be considered accounted for yet.

 **YOKO:** I was in the laundry room, knocked senseless by that fiend Chizuru!

 **KOHARU:** So that leaves Umeko, Momoko, Masuyo, Botan, Hayashi, Ryou, and Shiro.

 **KANON:** Oh, do we get to watch them argue again?

 **MOMOKO:** No. Hayashi admitted to trying to crush Shiro, remember?

 **MOMOKO:** Shiro even confirmed it, so we know it happened.

 **MOMOKO:** If he was waiting in the storage room, he couldn't be hiding in the cafeteria.

 **HAYASHI:** Oh great, exonerated by the psycho midget.

 **UMEKO:** Can't you even be a little glad she helped you out?

 **MOMOKO:** Aw, you _do_ care Umeko!

 **UMEKO:** Stay away.

 **KOHARU:** Our morning alibis matter too now, since we know the killer was stuck in the cafeteria.

 **MASUYO:** Super! In that case, I'm totally cleared!

 **HANAMI:** Why?

 **MASUYO:** Because as soon as the body discovery announcement went off, I met with the others!

 **UMEKO:** Yeah, we even saw each other leave our rooms.

 **UMEKO:** It was me, Koharu, Masuyo, and Momoko. We even arrived together.

 **BOTAN:** Now it's my turn to put the nails in Shiro's coffin.

 **BOTAN:** Me, Gen, and Ryou opened the doors to the crime scene together.

 **BOTAN:** Naturally, none of us could be hiding behind those doors.

 **GEN:** There you have it. All that leaves is Shiro.

 **JUN:** Nuh-uh, no way~! You're forgetting somethiiiiiiiing~!

 **GEN:** What else is there?

 **JUN:** It's come to my attention that Shiro came to the crime scene with Akuma and Aruna~!

 **JUN:** They can give him the alibi he needs~!

 **AKUMA:** He was shortly behind me, I didn't see him until I got there.

 **ARUNA:** Aruna saw him exiting room of crushing boxes. He start going front of Aruna.

 **HANAMI:** ...So he was even witnessed leaving the storage room…

 **JUN:** Oh nooooooo~!

 **SHIRO:** I-It's not what y-you think!

 **MOMOKO:** Then what is it Shiro?

 **MOMOKO:** Go on, I love watching people try to squirm away.

 **SHIRO:** It's uh, i-it's uh…

 **JUN:** Why would Shiro even kill someone~!?

 **SHIRO:** …!

 **SHIRO:** Y-Yeah, I-I have no m-motive for this crime!

 **GEN:** Does that even matter? We've already eliminated every other candidate.

 **JUN:** It matter to me~!

 **GEN:** _Jun must be taking this pretty hard…_

 **GEN:** _I was friends with Shiro too, but the two of them were inseparable._

 **JUN:** Go on~! Tell me~!

 **JUN:** Tell me why he'd do it~!

 **RYOU:** Humor his request Gen. He deserves that much at least.

 **GEN:** Alright. Jun, I'll give you your answer!

* * *

 **ARGUMENT ARMAMENT**

 **JUN:** Stop bullying Shiro~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** Shiro is innocent~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** It's all circumstantial~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** Anyone could have done it~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** He wouldn't hurt a fly~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** You're all just ganging up on him~!

-Break!-

 **JUN:** Yoko and Hayashi are waaay more suspicious~!

-Break!-

 **END IT ALL**

 **JUN:** Shiro has no reason to have killed Chizuru~!

 **BULLET FIRED: Botan's Theory**

 **GEN:** You're finished!

 **JUN:** Uwaaaaaaaaaah~!

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** I discussed something rather interesting with Botan.

 **GEN:** Namely how elaborate the crime scene was displayed.

 **BOTAN:** That's right. It takes a scary level of competence to be that sloppy with a kill.

 **JUN:** But-

 **GEN:** Also, the motive our warden gave to us.

 **GEN:** Revenge on those who got you arrested, and a clean slate.

 **JUN:** Well-

 **GEN:** Pair them together, and you get one solution.

 **JUN:** …

 **GEN:** Shiro, you lied about your crime, didn't you?

 **SHIRO:** …!

 **GEN:** You told us all assault is what put you away.

 **GEN:** That isn't the whole truth, is it? It was something much, much worse, wasn't it?

 **SHIRO:** …

 **MOMOKO:** Out with it, I'm getting so tired of this dragging on.

 **GEN:** What happened in the cafeteria that made you kill Chizuru?

 **GEN:** Why did she die? What are you hiding?

 **SHIRO:** I…

 **BOTAN:** Yes, go on.

 **SHIRO:** I…

 **JUN:** Shiro…

 **SHIRO:** I… chose to remain silent.

 **YOKO:** You are pleading the fifth!?

 **HANAMI:** I don't even know what that means…

 **MASUYO:** I guess this means we can vote now.

 **AKUMA:** Yeah, I guess it does.

 **MONOKUMA:** Wuzzat? You brats are finally done?

 **MONOKUMA:** Finally! I was so freaking bored! You losers aren't nearly as exciting as I had hoped!

 **MONOKUMA:** Okay then, everyone go ahead and-

 **JUN:** N-No, no we aren't… done yet.

 **GEN:** Jun?

 **JUN:** I just can't accept it! No way no how!

 **HAYASHI:** Oh for fucks sake, someone shut this twat up already so I can go!

 **KOHARU:** Show some sympathy you shit eating roach!

 **GEN:** Jun, with Shiro remaining mum on everything, he as good as admits it.

 **GEN:** I know it's hard to accept, but it's the truth.

 **JUN:** Maybe your truth, but not mine!

 **JUN:** I'm sure you just made a mistake somewhere!

 **GEN:** No, my reasoning is solid, I'm sure of it.

 **JUN:** Well I'm not!

 **RYOU:** Gen, why not go over it all once more to clear any doubt from his mind.

 **RYOU:** True, we could vote regardless, but this is the right thing to do.

 **GEN:** Alright. Jun, I'm going to go over everything that happened.

 **GEN:** Stop me when you notice a mistake.

 **JUN:** I will!

 **GEN:** Okay. This is all that happened in this case!

* * *

 **CLOSING ARGUMENT**

 **ACT 1**

To understand this case completely, we will first need to go over the actions of the victim prior to their death. A little after 7 PM, Yoko was attacked in the laundry room by the victim, Chizuru. Chizuru then stole Yoko's clothes and hid her own outfit, and the unconscious Yoko, in the washing machines. She easily could have killed Yoko right there, but instead wanted to disguise herself as Yoko in order to pin another murder on her. Now I know what you're thinking, 'But the two of them look nothing alike!' There is a simple answer: The makeup kit Chizuru prepared earlier enabled her to mimic Yoko's appearance almost perfectly. All that was left was for her to attack her target. Most likely she was out to kill me, considering she requested I meet her in the laundry room after nighttime started. She was, however, missing one critical tool: The murder weapon. She must have been in a hurry, it was almost nighttime but she had nothing to kill me with. She ran over to the kitchen to get a weapon to kill, only to wind up killed herself.

 **ACT 2**

It was around this time that the culprit coincidently began their own trip to the kitchen. They were at a party in the lounge that went well into nighttime, but they excused themself a little before the announcement, claiming to be tired. Before they went to their room, they probably wanted a little something to eat before bed. At this point, I do not think the culprit had any desire or plan to kill anyone. Once they entered the cafeteria however, things took a turn for the dramatic.

 **ACT 3**

The exact details of the meeting between Chizuru and the culprit are unclear, since they are unwilling to divulge that information. However, we do know that a fight broke out while they were together in the cafeteria, as evident by the state of the room. Sensing she was in danger, Chizuru ran into the kitchen to try and find that weapon she was looking for earlier, only now she needed it to defend herself. The culprit chased after her, the two continuing their struggle in the kitchen. Even though Chizuru had obtained a knife, it did not help her any, and she fled again, this time into the freezer. The culprit, tired of their back and forth, put an end to it all by slamming Chizuru's head against the wall, finally killing her. Unfortunately for them, they missed the most crucial piece of evidence to this case. In the struggle, Chizuru had managed to get some of the killer's hair in her hand without them knowing. This would play a key part in their downfall.

 **ACT 4**

The murder complete, the culprit began to conceal their involvement. I believe they had every intention of going to the laundry room to clean off their outfit, but something they didn't plan for got in the way. The culprit was unaware the cafeteria doors locked at night, and so they had unwittingly trapped themselves inside. Even if it was not intentional, it did benefit them by adding confusion to the timeframe Chizuru was killed. The culprit had to improvise, so they returned to the kitchen and utilized the cleaning supplies and sink to hide the food and bloodstains they received. One would expect the stains to still be partially visible, but since the culprit had all night to let their clothes dry, we were none the wiser to their deception. The culprit then simply had to wait out the night alone in the cafeteria. I suspect they had left the freezer door open for most of this time considering the state of the freezer, it was most likely shut hours into nighttime.

 **ACT 5**

Finally, the culprit made their escape as soon as the morning announcement went off. Ryou, Botan, and myself were standing in front of the door, but the killer was able to leave nonetheless. How? Unfortunately, since I rattled the handle earlier, the culprit was aware of our presence and slipped out the other door while we were simultaneously entering the cafeteria. Their escape complete, they moved with great haste to the lounge to plant false evidence. The rolling pin was left to make us think Chizuru died from it, and not from the beating the culprit gave her. Shortly after, the body discovery announcement went off and the culprit moved to meet with the rest of us. They took a detour through the storage room, only to face an unexpected obstacle. Hayashi attempted to crush the culprit with a crate, but the culprit was much too agile for that simple plan to work on them. They ran out, meeting up with Akuma and Aruna in the hall, and went to the kitchen, where they acted like they had no idea what happened.

The one who acted out this barbaric performance, it could only be you!

 **Shiro Yasushi, the Ultimate Judo Master!**

 **-BREAK!-**

* * *

 **GEN:** And that's that. I trust it all looks good to you Jun?

 **JUN:** Y-Yeah… yeah it does…

 **MASUYO:** Any last comments Shiro?

 **SHIRO:** None.

 **UMEKO:** Okay, now we are ready to vote. For reals this time.

 **MONOKUMA:** Are you sure? You bastards ain't gonna cock block me again?

 **BOTAN:** Hurry up and quit stalling.

 **MONOKUMA:** Stalling? Me? The nerve!

 **MONOKUMA:** I ought to get out of this monitor and beat the snot out of you!

 **BOTAN:** But you can't and you won't. So let's get on with the voting.

 **MONOKUMA:** All right, keep your pants on. Sheesh.

 **MONOKUMA:** Okay so your podiums are gonna have a panel pop out of them.

 **MONOKUMA:** Just select the person you think did it. It's not rocket science.

 **MONOKUMA:** Oh, and be absolutely sure to vote. Wouldn't want to upset me, if you know what I mean.

 **GEN:** _We all have a good idea of who did it anyway. Now to make it official._

* * *

 **VOTING TIME**

 **You Voted: Shiro Yasushi**

 **Displaying Results**

 **SHIRO YASUSHI: 15 Votes**

 **TRIAL END**

* * *

"Ding ding ding! We have some winners!" Monokuma gave us his trademark laughter through the monitor. "To be exact, fourteen winners and one very big loser! You were right, Shiro was the killer!"

"So we were right." Gen let a sigh of relief out that he didn't even know he was holding. "So, what happens now?"

Ryou raised his hand to gather our attention. "I for one would like to hear from Shiro. We deserve to know everything that transpired."

All eyes turned to Shiro. He met none of their gazes, directing his attention down to the floor. "I have nothing I want to say. I don't own you guys anything."

"Hey, where'd your stutter go? You sound a lot more sure now that we know you're a killer!" Umeko raised a good point. Shiro's entire demeanor had completely changed, like he was now an entirely different person.

"I faked it. Obviously." He looked up and over to the bear on the screen. "Let's get this over with. I'm ready for whatever punishment you have for me."

"Not so fast! There's a procedure for these things you know! Go ahead, tell them all about your past and your motives! It's no fun if you don't." Monokuma's monitor glowed red, the usual sign of annoyance from him.

"Too bad, I don't feel like it. It's not their business." Shiro bit into his thumb, a look of sheer hatred adorning his face.

"Oh well, I suppose it's up to me!" The display turned to static as the feed changed from displaying a bear head to showing the kitchen. Gen could see both Shiro and the disguised Chizuru standing near each other. "Listen good here. This is when the fun started!"

"Wha- Hey, don't show that!" Shiro ran up to the warden's monitor and punched it as hard as he could. A resounding thunk echoed in the courtroom, followed by the sound of Shiro screaming. He was clutching his hand in pain, there was blood flowing from his now exposed knuckles.

"You think a cheap shot like that would work? Please. What kind of warden do you take me for? Now pipe down so I can finish this exposition!" The image zoomed in to get a closer look at the killer and his victim in her final moments.

" _Hey there Shiro, darling. Mind giving a lady a listen?" Chizuru had approached him and put her arms under her chest to exaggerate her charm. "I have a proposition that you just_ can't _refuse. Trust me, you're gonna love it."_

" _O-Oh. S-Sure thing…" Shiro was fidgeting nervously in the presence of Chizuru's natural beauty._

" _You probably noticed my attire? I knocked out that opera gal and stole it from her. She's lying in the nude in the laundry room as we speak." She was chuckling, but Shiro only paled at her words._

" _W-Why w-would you do that!? That's d-dangerous!" Chizuru quit her laughing and sat up on a table, crossing one leg over the other._

" _You see, I originally was intending on having her set up to take the fall for a murder I was planning. But now that you're here, I think I will change things up."_

" _C-Change things up? Uh, w-what do you mean?" His confusion was turning into anxiety as Chizuru kept on trying to fluster him._

" _What do you think about being my accomplice? The two of us together, we would be unstoppable. Think about it." Chizuru hopped off her seat and walked inches away from Shiro. "You can go and kill her. Right now. I'll kill someone else. We can both get out of here. The others will have no idea what to do!"_

" _I-I can get out…?" If one looked carefully, they could see a hint of the devil flicker across Shiro's eyes. "I can… leave it all behind?"_

" _All that and more. Why, I'll even_ generously _reward you myself." She leaned right into his ear, the audio only faintly picking up what she said. "Anything you want. Anything."_

 _Shiro was lost in bliss for several moments before it looked like a bolt of realization hit him. "Wait a second. You're just trying to use me, aren't you?"_

 _The sudden change in demeanor caught Chizuru off guard, but she quickly recovered. "Why would you think that? This is a win win for both of us my darling Shiro."_

" _It sounds to me like bull." Shiro suddenly shoved Chizuru away from him, causing her to stagger into a table. "I kill Yoko and then what? You sell me out at the trial? Or do you kill me beforehand? You're just trying to manipulate me!"_

" _And here I thought I could turn this setback to my advantage." Chizuru brushed herself off and crossed her arms. "Who knew you actually had a backbone to you? What a shame really." She turned and began walking to the kitchen, barely giving Shiro a second glance. "Just don't get in my way, alright? Keep this between us."_

" _Like hell. I know too much and you're going to kill me now, isn't that what you really mean?" Chizuru didn't even acknowledge him and kept walking. "Hey!" The last thing that camera showed was Shiro violently yanking Chizuru to the ground by her hair before it turned to static._

"I think you all know what happened after that!" The warden was back on full display, his eerie and cartoonish face being the only thing they could now see.

"Oho… so she was about to have you kill me." Yoko nervously chuckled, the prospect of her possible demise making her sweat a little.

Momoko bounced on the back of her heels and pointed at Shirio while laughing. "So you killed her because you got mad at her? Hah, that's much a basic motive!"

Shiro's eyes twitched at her mocking. He turned his back to the group, the droplets of blood still falling from his hand. "It's more than that."

Monokuma perked up at the silence that followed after. "Oh, so I have to explain that too? Sheesh. All right, to any future killers: please be more forthcoming than this loser. This is way less dramatic than it could be."

"You know Shiro, maybe it would be better if we heard it from you instead of Monokuma." Akuma's request was not granted however, Shiro refused to speak still.

"So remember how you guys said that Shiro lied about his crime? Well, you were right! A simple assault is much to light for this guy!"

"So he did lie." Umeko took a few steps away from the group. Momoko noticed and took a few steps towards her just to make Umeko more uncomfortable, which worked.

"Yes indeed he did! You see, our little Shiro is quite accustomed to killing. In fact, I would even say that he is a professional!" Gen saw a smirk grace Botan's face at the warden's revelation. "Shiro is actually an assassin! A hitman! The cleaner! A gun for hire! Well with his fists and not a gun, but you get the point!"

"A fucking paid killer!?" Koharu vocalized the thoughts of the majority of the room. To discover that the once mild mannered and timid man was actually a mass murderer was shocking, to put it mildly.

"To think there was such a dangerous individual lurking by me all this time!" Masuyo was fuming with anger more than being surprised. "If I wasn't careful, the world could have lost me!"

"Save your bellowing. There's a little more to the tragic tale!" Everyone quieted down to look back over to the monitor. "Poor poor Shiro wasn't doing it all voluntarily you know. You see, his benevolent employers were threatening his family! If he didn't do what they asked, they'd have who knows what happen to them!"

Shiro was even now silent. He allowed Monokuma to continue telling his backstory without raising any more objections.

"One day our lone hero had enough. So he quit! He was so so tired of being treated like a puppet on a string! Well, his benefactors were certainly not too pleased with him, so they made good on their promise! His family was reduced to living on the streets, their livelihoods stripped of them! As added icing on top, the pinned all the kills they made Shiro do solely on him as payback." The bear blurted out the most violent laughing outburst he had ever given to them after finishing his story. "So I'm sure you get why he did what he did now, right?"

"Yes, it is all clear to me." Ryou once again drew all the attention onto himself. "Those putrid people who stole his life away from him. He wanted them to suffer as he did." He shot a look of genuine sympathy towards Shiro, though the judo practitioner wasn't looking at him to notice it. "Chizuru was a woman who lived to manipulate others. Shiro was a man who refused to be manipulated. One could say the outcome was inevitable."

"And there you have it. All my secrets laid bare." Shiro returned to looking at the others, his face suddenly devoid of any emotions. "What left is there other than my punishment? Go ahead Monokuma, I'm ready."

"Shiro." Surprisingly enough it was Aruna who spoke up. She had been mostly keeping to herself, so Gen was curious as to what she could possibly have to say to Shiro. "Aruna wanting to let you aware of things. You were great opponent. Aruna is sad to seeing you in situation."

"Heh, you still think of this all as a show, don't you?" Shiro gave her one hollow laugh. "Sorry to say, but all that's waiting for me now is the sweet embrace of death."

"Death? Quit being such a fucking edgy teen. Why the hell would you die!?" Hayashi did not show concern for Shiro, it was more of him trying to make himself look better.

"It's really the only thing that makes sense. The Ultimate Punishment for the Ultimate Crime. Am I wrong, Monokuma?"

"You are one hundred percent correctomundo! It's so refreshing to see someone so eager for a change!" The atmosphere in the courtroom became considerably colder as the warden's words sunk in. "Usually they go kicking and screaming trying to fight it. Gets stale after a while."

"Wow, what a sicko…" Leave it to Kanon to be mostly unaffected by the news.

"...Shiro. Hey Shiro." Hanami stepped up in front of Shiro in an effort to get his attention. "You seem ready to go, but isn't there someone you want to say something to?"

She pointed to Jun, who had yet to say anything. His eyes were tearing up, his shoulders sunk. Shiro let out a sigh as he approached the broken man. "Hey Jun. Thanks for sticking up for me back there."

"Y-Yeah, no problem." The poor guy was sniffling, trying to not burst out into a waterfall of tears. "That's just what friends do, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Gen had to look very closely, but he thought he saw a small smile on Shiro's face as he talked to Jun. "Maybe you should just do a better job of picking friends next time. You're too nice for your own good."

"Thanks for the... advice." Jun wiped his face against his sleeve and gave his friend a shaky thumbs up. "I-I'll be sure to take it to heart~!" His attempts to hide his sorrow were poor, but no one wanted to call him out on it.

"Alright, I'm done." Shiro faced Monokuma, one last defiant glare in his eyes. "Give me your worst." He then did one final look around at everyone assembled. "Watch closely now everyone. Especially you, Aruna. Watch this fool's final moments, and remember them."

"Aruna will be sure to view. Production must be of higher value than others so far, yes?" Everyone either just sighed or nodded at her, she was even now in denial.

"Oh, I can do it now? Hurray! Well then, I'm pleased to say I have a very special punishment in store for you, Shiro Yasushi, the Ultimate Judo Master." Shiro simply continued glaring at the screen. Everyone else kept bouncing their eyes between the two, awaiting what was next. "Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!"

"Catch you all on the other side."

* * *

 **SHIRIO YASUSHI**

 **HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY  
COMMENCING PUNISHMENT**

 _ **-The Final Showdown-**_

 _Shiro was standing in the center of a martial arts dojo. All around him were robotic opponents garbed in attire like any judo practitioner would wear. One of them made a lunge at Shiro, only to be grabbed by him and slammed on the ground. Seeing their comrade's circuitry on the floor did not deter the other robots as they launched themselves at Shiro. One by one they fell, until none of them were left standing. Shiro couldn't even get a moment of respite however, as a second wave of challengers appeared to replace the first. This time they didn't fight him one at a time. Now they were all ganging up on him together. Shiro valiantly fought them off, swinging them every which way and reducing them to scrap. As soon as they were dispatched another group took their place, this time with a larger robot with a black belt in the mix. Shiro was getting exhausted, but continued defending himself with all his might. As he was busy with one robot, the big one ran over at lightning speed and grabbed Shiro by the throat. Before he could resist, he was choke slammed to the floor. He couldn't do anything as the grip around his neck tightened and the remaining foes began to tear into him. Blood and parts rained down until finally the black belt robot ended it all with a jab to Shiro's heart. The robots left with a bow, leaving the mangled body in plain view for all to see._

 _Shiro Yasushi, the Ultimate Judo Master, was dead._

* * *

"Ah yeah! Man that felt great!" Gen barely registered the bear's words as he tried not to throw up all over the floor. "Do you know how long I had to wait for that!? It's been ages since I got to do an execution! I forgot just how much it gets the blood pumping!"

An oder perforated the room as Jun emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. His face was streaming with tears and snot as he kept on throwing up everywhere, with no end in sight.

Gen saw Umeko and Yoko crying while Akuma and Koharu were holding back tears of his own. Hayashi didn't look bothered at all, as Momoko and Botan seemed as well.

Hanami wrestled herself free of Gen's hold on her. He almost forgotten he had wrapped his arm around her head to shield her from the torture.

Kanon simply stared off into space as usual. You wouldn't be able to tell she just witnessed a tragedy by looking at her.

Ryou had his eyes closed, as if offering a silent prayer for the newly departed.

Masuyo just seemed more enraged than anything. "You are really something, aren't you?" She stormed over to Monokuma's screen in a huff. "Why-"

She was cut off before she even got the chance to ask anything. "Why am I doing this? Shits and giggles. Do I get some sick pleasure from seeing you all suffer? Why yes, yes I do. Are you all going to band together and promise that something like this won't happen again? More likely than not!" His tone was mocking and condescending, making light of the situation. "I've heard it all dozens of times little miss big ego. I don't care at this point about the usual post execution banter. It's always the same."

"What!? You wanna come down here and say that?" She looked about ready to punch the screen herself, but held off. She most likely remembered what happened when Shiro tried the same.

"Actually, I think I'll treat myself to a well deserved break. It's not easy judging over all you dipshits!" Masuyo looked like she was going to protest more, but didn't get the chance. Monokuma left the screen, leaving it blank and devoid of his presence.

They were left to stew in their own thoughts, the only sounds coming from Jun's pained cries and puking. He was not the only person who had fallen to the floor however. Aruna was also on her knees, staring vacantly ahead of her. Koharu also noticed, and walked over to her. "Hey Aruna, feeling okay?"

She said nothing and continued looking at nothing. Her uncharacteristic behavior attracted Momoko's attention, who bounced over without a care in the world. "Hey, Earth to foreign girl. Do you read me?" She waved her hands in front of Aruna's face before getting them slapped away by Koharu. If looks could kill, Momoko would really have been dead.

Aruna suddenly jumped up to her feet and ran over to the elevator. She closed it behind her before anyone could stop her, leaving them all behind. "Looks like someone finally got their wake up call." Botan scoffed at her display before calling the elevator back down a few moments later. "Someone pick up Jun, would you? I feel he's going to be there awhile if you don't."

Ryou went over to Jun and offered him a hand up. Jun didn't take it and got up on his own. He stumbled a bit, and Ryou was there to catch him. The two slowly made their way to the elevator with everyone else to leave the courtroom behind them.

Gen was also going to head up, but stopped when he felt a tugging on his sleeve. It was Hanami, trying to get him to look at her. "Hey Gen, do you think we're all going to end up like them?"

His answer was quick. "No way. I'm not gonna let that happen. You'll see." She didn't look convinced, so he tried again to reassure her. "Promise. Tell you what, if I can't say it for everyone, how about for you?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. I swear on my life that nothing is going to happen to you." He pointed to himself with a large grin. "You can count on it!"

"Why?" Gen admittedly didn't expect her to respond in that way. "Why are you giving me special treatment?"

His silence must have lasted too long, as Hanami narrowed her eyes at him. "...No reason. Now come on, the others are waiting." He grabbed her gently by the hand and lead them to the elevator with the others. Once they got inside, the doors closed, ending this twisted chapter of their life.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1 END**

 **INMATES ALIVE: 14**

* * *

 **AN: And with that, our proceedings come to a close. I hope that you were able to follow along with all that. It was my first trial, so I'm a bit iffy on how it turned out. Oh well, next one will be better for sure.**

 **I would like to extend my thanks to R3dLuvSingin for giving me Shiro. He was a great guy and I'm gonna miss him, as I'm sure some of you will too.**

 **Alright, you know the deal. Any comments, questions, or concerns can be left in the review section. I will get back to you at the start of next chapter. Which hopefully doesn't have another month long gap. I'll try.**


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